'' The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War '' is a 2013 book by the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' journalist and historian,

Stephen Kinzer Stephen Kinzer (born August 4, 1951) is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former ''New York Times'' correspondent, he has published several books and writes for several newspapers and news agencies. Reporting career During the 198 ...

. It has been described as "a riveting chronicle of government-sanctioned murder, casual elimination of “inconvenient” regimes, relentless prioritization of American corporate interests and cynical arrogance on the part of two men who were once among the most powerful in the world." Kinzer traces how the activity of Dulles brothers "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises." It is based on secondary sources.

Background

President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

gave the position of secretary of state to

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...

and the position of director of the CIA to

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...

in 1953. It was the first and only time in history two brothers were appointed to head the overt and

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

sides of American foreign policy.

Context

The book mentions that Dulles play a vital role in leading the US into the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, and assisting to overthrow cold war governments such as Guatemala, Iran, the Congo, and Indonesia. The book's first several chapters give information about the family background, childhoods, and college educations of the two brothers. In this way, some points of their personal life are provided: Foster was a devoted husband while Allen was an unfaithful husband. Kinzer explains how the actions of the Dulles brothers aimed at removing world leaders whom they considered dangerous to the American interests. The brothers had a significant effect on the United States foreign policy and global conflicts. The book mentions "six monsters" that the "Dulles brothers believed had to be brought down":

Mohammed Mossadegh Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from ...

in Iran,

Jacobo Árbenz Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th president of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, before he became the secon ...

in Guatemala,

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

in Vietnam,

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

in Indonesia,

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba ( ; born Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; 2 July 192517 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic o ...

in the Congo, and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

in Cuba. Ho Chi Minh and Castro espoused

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

. The other leaders on the list were

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

who campaigned for their country's independence. The book also discusses Iran at length. While explaining the careers of the brothers, Kinzer describes events from American history such as mind-control experiments “in which psychoactive drugs were administered to unknowing victims.”

References

External links

''Q&A'' interview with Kinzer on ''The Brothers'', November 3, 2013

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Presentation by Kinzer on ''The Brothers'', October 4, 2013

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War Political books Books by Stephen Kinzer 2013 non-fiction books Dulles family

Background

Context

See also

References

External links