Gen Ed 1017: Americans as Occupiers and Nation Builders
The United States has launched numerous projects of military occupation and nation-building in foreign lands since the late 19th century. These have been contradictory enterprises, carrying ideals of freedom and self-determination "offered" by force or by fiat. This course will assess the meanings and legacies of these projects by examining the ideas, strategies, policies, and outcomes of occupations ranging from the Philippines early on, to Japan, Germany, Korea, and Vietnam to, most recently, Afghanistan and Iraq. The course focuses on American activities and ideas but also examines the responses of the occupied. Professors: Andrew Gordon and Erez Manela.
Class Materials:
Section 11
Additional Resources
- Conversations with History - Stephen D. Biddle
- Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, “Why Afghanistan’s War Defies Solutions,” New York Times (8/24/2017)
- Greg Myre, "A Cautionary Tale About Transforming Afghanistan," NPR Morning Edition (7/3/2012)
Section 10
Additional resources
- NPR, Scanning History for Analogies to Iraq War (Aug. 22, 2007)
- Dell, Melissa, and Pablo Querubin. “Nation Building Through Foreign Intervention: Evidence from Discontinuities in Military Strategies.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 133, no. 2 (2018): 701-764.
Section 9
Additional resources
- Lumba on Miller, 'Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam (H-Decol via H-Net)
- Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the origins of America's war in Vietnam, 1950-1963 (Boston College Libraries via YouTube)
Section 8
Additional Resource
- Ian Buruma, "What the Tokyo Trial Reveals About Empire, Memory, and Judgment," New Yorker (10/16/2023)
Section 7
Section 6
Additional resources
- Post World War II Recovery: Crash Course European History #42
- Learn How To Use ChatGPT in 10 Minutes!
Section 5
Additional resources
- Council on Foreign Relations, "Women’s Participation in Peace Processes"
- Council on Foreign Relations, "The History of Japan's Postwar Constitution"
Section 4
Additional resources
- Lori Watt, "Embracing Defeat in the Colonies," Library of Congress
- Yumi Moon, "Korean Uprisings in 1946: Was the US Occupation Responsible for the Korean War?" Wilson Center.
Section 3
Additional resources
- Pransenjit Duara on Theories of History
- David Sanger and Michael Shear, "Eighty Years Later, Biden and Johnson Revise the Atlantic Charter for a New Era," New York Times (6/11/2021).
Section 2
Additional resources
- Daniel Immerwahr, "How the US has hidden its empire," The Guardian (February 15, 2019).
- Sarah A. Topol, "The America that Americans Forget," New York Times Magazine (July 7, 2023).
Section 1
Additional resources
- American Historical Review Conversation: On Transnational History
- Jonathan Hedeen. Review of Fradera, Josep Maria, Imperial Nation: Ruling Citizens and Subjects in the British, French, Spanish, and American Empires. H-Atlantic, H-Net Reviews. March, 2020.