Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors: Religion and the History of the CIA

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Charting the Wilderness -- 1 American Spies and American Catholics -- 2 Refining the Religious Approach -- 3 The Great Jihad of Freedom -- 4 On Caring What It Is -- 5 Baptizing Vietnam -- 6 Counterinsurgency and the Study of World Religions -- 7 Iran and Revo...

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1. VerfasserIn: Graziano, Michael (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Buch
Sprache:Englisch
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Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: Chicago University of Chicago Press [2021]
In:Jahr: 2021
Rezensionen:[Rezension von: Graziano, Michael, Errand into the wilderness of mirrors] (2023) (Dowland, Seth, 1979 -)
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Religion / USA, Central Intelligence Agency
IxTheo Notationen:KBQ Nordamerika
SA Kirchenrecht; Staatskirchenrecht
weitere Schlagwörter:B Intelligence service (United States) History 20th century
B National Security (United States) Religious aspects
B HISTORY / General
B Intelligence officers (United States)
B Cold War Religious aspects
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Zusammenfassung:Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Charting the Wilderness -- 1 American Spies and American Catholics -- 2 Refining the Religious Approach -- 3 The Great Jihad of Freedom -- 4 On Caring What It Is -- 5 Baptizing Vietnam -- 6 Counterinsurgency and the Study of World Religions -- 7 Iran and Revolutionary Thinking -- Conclusion: A New Wilderness -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index
Michael Graziano’s intriguing book fuses two landmark titles in American history: Perry Miller’s Errand into the Wilderness (1956), about the religious worldview of the early Massachusetts colonists, and David Martin’s Wilderness of Mirrors (1980), about the dangers and delusions inherent to the Central Intelligence Agency. Fittingly, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors investigates the dangers and delusions that ensued from the religious worldview of the early molders of the Central Intelligence Agency. Graziano argues that the religious approach to intelligence by key OSS and CIA figures like “Wild” Bill Donovan and Edward Lansdale was an essential, and overlooked, factor in establishing the agency’s concerns, methods, and understandings of the world. In a practical sense, this was because the Roman Catholic Church already had global networks of people and safe places that American agents could use to their advantage. But more tellingly, Graziano shows, American intelligence officers were overly inclined to view powerful religions and religious figures through the frameworks of Catholicism. As Graziano makes clear, these misconceptions often led to tragedy and disaster on an international scale. By braiding the development of the modern intelligence agency with the story of postwar American religion, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors delivers a provocative new look at a secret driver of one of the major engines of American power
Physische Details:1 Online-Ressource (240 p), 2 line drawings
Medienart:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:022676754X
Zugangseinschränkungen:Restricted Access
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.7208/9780226767543