REINHOLD NIEBUHR AND THE RHETORIC OF LIBERAL ANTI-COMMUNISM: CHRISTIAN REALISM AND THE RISE OF THE COLD WA

In response to contemporary uncertainty concerning the political legacy of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian realism, this dissertation surveys Niebuhr's interpretation of America's participation in international affairs during the early years of the Cold War. By giving close attention to Niebuhr's many editorials and shorter writings, this study traces his initial attempts to find a conciliatory path with Russia, his 1946 conversion to a more confrontational stance, his articulation of a theological and philosophical rationale for the policy of containment, and his reflections on the attempt to extend this policy to the Cold War in Asia. This historical account is interwoven with an analysis of Niebuhr's political philosophy and his attempt to interpret the resources of Christian faith for the struggle.;The study finds that Niebuhr attempted to mobilize patriotic fervor and employ the terms of national interest in order to broaden America's sense of obligation and commitment to more general interests. He argued for the centrality of power in order to advocate an expanded, morally sensitive conception of power. In sum, Niebuhr militantly espoused liberal measures to counter the conservative militarists of his time and offered a realistic rationale for exercising moral restraint. This technique of rhetorical reversal allowed Niebuhr to integrate a variety of motivations into his appeals and to offer an apparently balanced and comprehensive analysis. But it also made his argument easily susceptible to one-sided distortions and less liberal appropriations.;The dissertation concludes that Niebuhr's ideological orientation, his emphasis on prudence, his consequentialism, and his basic confidence in the relative virtue of American values and institutions establish strong links with the contemporary neoconservative movement. But the essence of his liberal anti-communism was that these elements were inseparably combined with a perennial demand for self-criticism and a vigorous critique of America's bourgeois ideology. His most basic commitment was to heighten America's sense of the limits of its strength, wisdom, and virtue, in order to restrain national appetites and pride.