Episode 70: Cold War Liberalism with Daniel Bessner
From Reimagining Soviet Georgia by Reimagining Soviet Georgia
June 1, 2026 · 1h 5m
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of Cold War liberalism on US foreign policy and its lasting influence on modern history with historian Daniel Bessner.
On today’s episode we discuss Cold War liberalism with historian Daniel Bessner. In the mid-twentieth century, Cold War liberalism exerted a profound influence on the US state, US foreign policy, and liberal thought across the North Atlantic world. The ideology transformed politics, society, and culture writ large. From impacting US foreign policy in the Middle East, to influencing the ideological contours of industrial society, to shaping the urban landscape of Los Angeles, Cold War liberalism left an indelible mark on modern history. During the Cold War and through the US-led post-Cold War “unipolar” moment, Cold War liberalism and Neo-conservativism guided a messianic US foreign policy. In post-Soviet countries like Georgia and beyond these ideologies would have profound influence, the remnants, contradictions and consequences of which we can still see today. Daniel Bessner is an Associate Professor in American foreign policy at the University of Washington. He co-hosts the podcast American Prestige and has published pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post , The Guardian , The New Republic , The Nation , n+1 , and other venues. He is the co-editor of Cold War…
People in this episode
Guest: Daniel Bessner
Topics covered
- Cold War liberalism
- US foreign policy
- politics
- society
- culture
- post-Soviet influence
Keywords
- Cold War
- liberalism
- US foreign policy
- Georgia
- political ideology
- historian
- Daniel Bessner
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Washington, American Prestige, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Republic, The Nation, n+1
Books & works: Cold War Liberalism: Power in a Time of Emergency
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