6 - The Fractured World of the Cold War

Summary

Wendell Willkie’s One World, published in 1943 at the height of World War II, quickly became a spectacular best seller. A stirring call for a new international order rooted in cooperation and unity, the book captured the aspirations of countless Americans, to say nothing of the wider world, who hoped for something better at the end of all the bloodshed. But Willkie’s vision also appealed because it seemed attainable. During an around-the-world tour, Willkie found governments and peoples eager to submerge their narrow interests within supranational structures that would serve the common good. “It is inescapable that there can be no peace for any part of the world,” wrote Willkie, “unless the foundations of peace are made secure throughout all parts of the world.”