The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War - Book Launch with Dr. Benn Steil

Please join the Project on Prosperity and Development at CSIS for a public conversation with Dr. Benn Steil on Wednesday, April 4 at 10:00 AM to discuss his new book, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War.
Dr. Steil’s new book brings to life the most ambitious development undertaking in history: The Marshall Plan. Born out of post-war realignment, the Marshall Plan focused on a trifecta of objectives: the reconstruction of Europe, preventing the spread of Communism, and defining the contours of a new global liberal order.
The Marshall Plan resulted in the creation of NATO and the European Union, the thriving economies of Western Europe, and the enduring idea that enlightened foreign intervention was possible. But the recovery program, which included aid equivalent to $800 billion today as a percentage of U.S. output, was not easy nor unifying. It accelerated the collapse of U.S.-Soviet relations, precipitating the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany.
Today, with Russian assertiveness in global affairs on the rise, and a U.S. commitment to the alliances and multilateral institutions it created on the wane, the Marshall Plan is again one of the most important case studies in American Grand Strategy. Please join as Dr. Steil recounts the history of the Marshall Plan and the ways in which it echoes into today’s global contexts.
Photo: J A Hampton/Getty Images

[@charlessalmans3711]

Steil has written a very good book. I wish the interviewer hadn't talked over him and instead had asked simple questions to which the author was allowed to respond. Seemingly, the interviewer felt the need to prove his knowledge (showing his insecurity?). We want to hear the author elaborate on the points in his book which are the product of extensive research and reflection.

[@wiseman9960]

What about giving the new aliases, an access to the Americans market? Is that not a critical point of the implementation and and even more - the sustainability of the Marshall Plan?

[@douglasrosien585]

OMG the moderator needs to shut up and let the author speak!

[@numspacsym]

Repeated pointless interruptions from the interviewer that only detract from the discussion and get in the way of the author being able to make his case. Much better to pose well defined questions and then let the author speak until his answer is complete.

[@anepeconomics2412]

Important book on crucial turning phase of world history, from U.S. perspective. Interesting how any references to european history ca. 1845-1945 is completely missing, as if non-existent. The way Steil portrays it (in his previous book on Bretton Woods), the U.S. under Roosevelt was completely naive about the Soviet Union's and the communist movement's aims, thinking they could be co-opted into a cooperative global system. Could Roosevelt really have been that clueless about the ideological struggles going on in Europe since the rise of Socialism&Marxism, culminating in 1917, not even realizing his architect for the system, Harry Dexter White, was indeed a soviet spy (as unearthed by Benn Steil)? Apparently yes. Terrible, very annoying interviewer.