By Jason Sibert
Former Secretary of State George Marshall earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, making him one of 21 Americans to win the award.
And his honor has much to teach us today. As Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949, Marshall advocated rebuilding Europe through the Marshall Plan. Our country transferred $12 billion to the continent ($130 billion in today’s dollars) to help repair its devastated economies after World War II. The Marshall Plan is what a foreign policy specialist would call soft power, or non-military power. In making Europe more prosperous, our country hoped to blunt the appeal of Communism, and western Europe never entered the Communist block at any time in the Cold War.
Some attribute the victory of the west in the Cold War to a defense buildup in the 1980’s during the Ronald Reagan Administration, which really started in 1978 after the Russians invaded Afghanistan in the administration of President Jimmy Carter. However, the use of soft power was prevalent throughout the conflict. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the 1960’s proved to be a powerful soft power tool. The existence of segregation in certain parts of the country was a recruiting tool for Communists in Africa and other parts of the world. The dismantling of segregation strengthened our appeal. The popularity of western music, dress, and culture also helped in the soft power war with Soviet Russia.
In a world of rising defense budgets and geopolitical conflicts between Russia, China, and the United States, the lesson of Marshall and soft power has been forgotten. Absolute poverty in parts of the world represents a security threat to wealthy nations because those who live in absolute poverty are more prone to follow extremist ideologies. The greenhouse effect represents a threat to the security of the world as well. However, both issues require a response that has nothing to do with the projection of military power.
Marshall certainly held many high- profile government posts in his long career. He served in the United States Army from 1902 until 1945 and rose to the rank of general. He served as U.S. Army chief of staff from 1939 to 1945. Marshall started his diplomatic career in 1945 when he served President Harry Truman as an envoy to China. This was followed by his stint as secretary of state and secretary of defense from 1950 to 1951. Marshall was president of the American Red Cross from 1949 to 1950. He passed away in 1959.
Jason Sibert is Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project.
