Democracy in Exile
Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual
Published on 15. September 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-5017-8507-8 (ISBN)
Description
In Democracy in Exile, Daniel Bessner explores the life of Hans Speier, one of the most significant figures in the history of U.S. defense policy.
Bessner traces Speier's intellectual development from Weimar Germany to the Cold War United States, revealing how his European roots shaped the expert-driven approach to foreign policymaking that American elites institutionalized during and after World War II. A key figure in a transatlantic network of emigre policymakers and analysts, Speier helped establish novel institutions such as the RAND Corporation that transformed how US foreign policy was made.
Democracy in Exile highlights how social scientists like Speier left academia to create a "military-intellectual complex" that insulated American decision making from public opinion and that continues to shape US defense policy today.
Bessner traces Speier's intellectual development from Weimar Germany to the Cold War United States, revealing how his European roots shaped the expert-driven approach to foreign policymaking that American elites institutionalized during and after World War II. A key figure in a transatlantic network of emigre policymakers and analysts, Speier helped establish novel institutions such as the RAND Corporation that transformed how US foreign policy was made.
Democracy in Exile highlights how social scientists like Speier left academia to create a "military-intellectual complex" that insulated American decision making from public opinion and that continues to shape US defense policy today.
Reviews / Votes
"Speier began his academic career studying the sociology of knowledge, and after he arrived in the United States, he directed the US government's propaganda effort against Germany. The debates recounted in Bessner's biography between Speier and other officials over how to develop effective campaigns are particularly fascinating in the context of contemporary worries about information warfare." Foreign Affairs"Democracy in Exile is directly relevant to a number of contemporary debates, not just about foreign policy but on the nature of politics itself." - Los Angeles Review of Books
"Bessner's archival work has turned up many gems." - The Globe Post
"A revealing look at a thinker burned by populist upheaval who worried that 'man's nature makes the realization of the good order impossible.'" - Shepherd Express
"An honest and impressively compiled reminder to policy-oriented givers, grant recipients, and policymakers about some of the concerning anti-democratic roots of modern establishment philanthropy - and its understanding of the relationship between knowledge and power." - Real Clear Books
"Bessner writes about his subject with sympathy and insight... Democracy in Exile should also be read by those who fear that democracy is again under threat all over the world." - Technology and Culture
"This book skillfully navigates between an argument for Speier's historical importance and a critique of his ideas." - German History
"Bessner's Democracy in Exile, therefore, stacks up with the best in contemporary history that is powerfully relevant to current debates concerning foreign policy. The book shows how and why it is important to think carefully about democracy and the role scholars and intellectuals contribute to its survival." - H-Net
"Bessner's biography of Speier is an excellent case study of a transatlantic crossing linking Europe's interwar crises with America's permanent national security state." - American Historical Review
"A vital contribution and vivid portrait of Hans Speier." - Journal of American History
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ithaca
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 b&w halftones, 1 chart - 12 Halftones, black and white - 1 Charts
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5017-8507-8 (9781501785078)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2018
Cornell University Press
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Daniel Bessner is the Anne H. H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Assistant Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Masses and Marxism in Weimar Germany
2. The Social Role of the Intellectual Exile
3. Public Opinion, Propaganda, and Democracy in Crisis
4. Psychological Warfare in Theory and Practice
5. The Making of a Defense Intellectual
6. The Adviser
7. The Institution Builder
8. Social Science and Its Discontents
Conclusion
Abbreviations
Archival and Source Abbreviations
Notes
Archives Cited
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Masses and Marxism in Weimar Germany
2. The Social Role of the Intellectual Exile
3. Public Opinion, Propaganda, and Democracy in Crisis
4. Psychological Warfare in Theory and Practice
5. The Making of a Defense Intellectual
6. The Adviser
7. The Institution Builder
8. Social Science and Its Discontents
Conclusion
Abbreviations
Archival and Source Abbreviations
Notes
Archives Cited
Index