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Cultural Internationalism and World Order

Akira Iriye

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The history of the post-World-War-I movement that included a surprising array of efforts to foster cooperation, from the creation of an international language to student exchange programs, international lecture circuits, and other cultural activities.

As the nineteenth century became the twentieth and the dangers of rampant nationalism became more evident, people throughout the world embraced the idea that a new spirit of internationalism might be fostered by better communication and understanding among nations. Cultural internationalism came into its own after the end of World War I, when...

The history of the post-World-War-I movement that included a surprising array of efforts to foster cooperation, from the creation of an international language to student exchange programs, international lecture circuits, and other cultural activities.

As the nineteenth century became the twentieth and the dangers of rampant nationalism became more evident, people throughout the world embraced the idea that a new spirit of internationalism might be fostered by better communication and understanding among nations. Cultural internationalism came into its own after the end of World War I, when intellectuals and artists realized that one way of forging a stable and lasting international peace was to encourage international cultural exchange and cooperation.

In Cultural Internationalism and World Order, noted historian Akira Iriye shows how widespread and serious a following this idea had. He describes a surprising array of efforts to foster cooperation, from the creation of an international language to student exchange programs, international lecture circuits, and other cultural activities. But he does not overlook the tensions the movement encountered with the real politics of the day, including the militarism that led up to the World War I, the rise of extreme strains of nationalism in Germany and Japan before World War II, and the bipolar rivalries of the Cold War.

Iriye concludes that the effort of cultural internationalism can only be appreciated only in the context of world politics. A lasting and stable world order, he argues, cannot rely just on governments and power politics; it also depends upon the open exchange of cultures among peoples in pursuing common intellectual and cultural interests.

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Reviews

Akira Iriye discusses the origins of what he calls 'cultural internationalism' and the tensions that arose in the countervailing forces of nationalism prior to both World Wars. To prevent a resurgence of the militarism of cultural nationalists, which has wrecked such havoc in this century, he makes a compelling argument about the need to tear down cultural walls rather than build them up.

Iriye has added a quiet (and overdue) polemic for liberal values. He forces us to consider the importance of environmentalists, journalists, students, artists, scholars, and musicians who flow between cultures, mitigating the rhetoric of national leaders and the menacing accumulation of troops and arms.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.25
x
8.25
Pages
232
ISBN
9780801866531
Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Internationalist Imagination
Chapter 2. The Origins of Cultural Internationalism
Chapter 3. The Separation of Culture from Internationalism
Chapter 4. The Cultural

Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Internationalist Imagination
Chapter 2. The Origins of Cultural Internationalism
Chapter 3. The Separation of Culture from Internationalism
Chapter 4. The Cultural Foundations of the New Globalism
Conclusion. Toward a Cultural Definition of International Relations
Notes
Index

Author Bio
Featured Contributor

Akira Iriye

Akira Iriye is professor in the Department of History at Harvard University. His many books include The Globalizing of America, Across the Pacific: An Inner History of American-East Asian Relations, and China and Japan in the Global Setting.