The Intellectual and Diplomatic Discourse of American Progressives and the late Ottomans, 1830–1930

Brigitte Maricich Powell

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract

The American intellectual and diplomatic discourse with the late Ottoman Empire is an understudied field of history. Major works to date are primarily focused on the US relations with the Turkish Republic starting in 1924, which at best may highlight the Barbary Wars and the Treaties of 1830 and 1862 as a precursor. Few works offer, if any, a comprehensive insight into the diplomatic relationship that evolved between the US and the Near East from 1830 to 1930. This research is meant to fill the absence by probing into the service of key American diplomats and intellectuals who visited and sojourned in the late Ottoman Empire and their findings. Therefore, The Intellectual and Diplomatic Discourse of American Progressives and the Late Ottomans, 1830–1930, traces the diplomatic endeavors and histories lending to American congressional and executive decisions of reforms and the formation of American foreign policy in the Near East. The research also analyzes how progressives relied on Ottoman reforms to inform their political theories as diplomatic communications piqued political interests. Ideas began to surface in lectures and publications during the mid-nineteenth century, brought forth by forerunners such as Lieber, Woolsey, and Burgess. By the dawn of the Progressive Era, American intellectuals would infer valuable ideas from the Turks to enhance progressivism in the United States politically, economically, and socially. The notions brought forth by American intellectuals displayed considerable diversity as progressivism continued to evolve into the twentieth century.

Original languageUndefined/Unknown
StatePublished - May 25 2023
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameDoctoral Dissertations and Projects

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