Book Review: The Marshall Plan. Brookings Institution Press.

“The Marshall Plan and the Shaping of American Strategy. Edited by Bruce Jones, with a forward by Strobe Talbott. Brookings Institution Press. 2017. 132pp. £17.95.

The Brookings Institution, a leading American research group, has published a compact yet informative and interesting approach on the European Recovery Program, the renowned Marshall Plan.

In this synthesis, the reader can familiarize him or herself with the process and the background of that massive project as well as the role of the Brookings Institution in its enactment in 1948. The Marshall Plan, in altering the equilibrium of global geopolitical power, has been one of the most important projects in the post-WWII world. The foreword by Strobe Talbott, former president of Brookings, politician and academic, offers a detailed and interesting analysis on the role of the Institution in the formation, implementation, promotion and finally the approval of the plan. Readers unfamiliar with the topic will find fascinating that Brookings scholars had a close connection with the American government after the Second World War and have left their mark on the Plan. Senator Vandenberg mentioned the Senate’s “great obligation to the Brookings Institution for the masterly job it did. The provision in the pending bill largely follow its recommendations” (16), in 1948, just before Congress approved the massive $13 billion aid program to Europe. Talbott’s effort to underline the role of the Institution is constant, yet reasonable, given the import of this lesser-known aspect.

The three main parts comprise an excellent, if compact, handbook and compendium of primary sources.

The second chapter presents Marshall’s speech at Harvard where he was invited to receive an honorary degree – information that is missing from the introductory note of the chapter. It was the notable occasion on which he, to everyone’s surprise, presented and analyzed his vision for the rebuilding of Europe.

The third chapter presents a less publicized and famous document: the Brookings report for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: the Marshall Plan with ‘flesh and bones’. Once again the prologue of the chapter reminds readers of the “high standard of quality and impact that Brookings scholars strive for to this day” (27). Clear, explanatory and informative, the document that covers 65 page of this small book shares ideas, opinion and views on the globalization of US influence.

The fourth chapter is a reminder that General Marshall was a Nobel Prize laureate and the reader gets to read his short but important speech; another document that it is not often presented and some may find interesting a closer look.

The books ends with the afterword, which along with the forward, are the only parts that the reader will find and assess the views of Brookings’ scholars on Marshall and the role of the Institution in its implementation. Bruce Jones, Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy Program and Will Moreland, associate fellow with the Brookings Institution’s Project on International Order and Strategy, explain the Plan and its impact through a global perspective and offer a short but interesting historical analysis.

First of all, they present the role of the United Nations and compare it with the Marshall Plan, in order to underline the latter’s importance in influencing international geopolitics. However, readers who are more skeptical on the intensions of US financial assistance towards their allies may feel that this is opinion has a more American rather than global perspective. In other words, there are several cases, both in the foreword and the afterword, that, especially to non-American readers, may appear to be an one-sided approach to the role of the Marshall Plan; it seems that they try to connect it with democracy and freedom in Europe by leaving relatively unexplored other highly significant reasons for the enactment of the Plan. Criticism may focus on the fact that the Marshall Plan helped the goal of American expansionism, created a barrier against Communism, supported the Cold War and laid the foundation for decades of protectionism, manipulation and CIA interference in European politics, and of course the creation of a valuable market for American products.

However the very last section of the book, ‘History’s Rhymes’, offers a well-rounded, down-to-earth description of today’s geopolitics and the difficulties the United States and other superpowers face. Once again the comparison between the United States of the Marshall Plan era and nowadays proves the deep knowledge of the Brookings Institution and its scholars in examining, interpreting and to some extent even foreseeing the future of international geopolitics. Overall, this is a concise yet informative and well-constructed book. Readers will find valuable primary sources – rare in such a short book – and a deep and well-crafted explanation of international politics of the mid-20th century until the present day. Lastly, readers will get acquainted with the massive work of the Brookings Institution and the its role in the shaping of global politics.