Historical analysis reveals racialized liberalism legitimized early US North Atlantic commitments, indicating that postwar liberal internationalism was deeply rooted in racial ideology.
Key Points
To examine why early American postwar commitments to defending 'free people' were restricted to European empires rather than extended to domestic segregated communities or colonized populations.
Historical and ideological discourse analysis of United States foreign policy debates surrounding the North Atlantic security community between 1947 and 1949.
Identifies racialized liberalism—the belief that White populations are the natural subjects of democracy—as the primary ideology justifying North Atlantic defense commitments.
Demonstrates that appeals to 'Western civilization' effectively neutralized isolationist, fiscal conservative, realist, and liberal opposition to foreign alliances.
Finds that early North Atlantic security arrangements actively protected White democratic regimes while subsidizing and upholding European colonial rule.