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In Our Time: The American Century

The American Century

17/12/1998

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The American Century

Melvyn Bragg examines how legitimate it is to call the 20th century the American century.

Melvyn Bragg examines whether ideals of democracy and freedom have been forged in the world as a result of American influence, or if American oppression has made a bigger impact in the 20th century.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how legitimate it is to call the 20th century the American century. Just how benevolent has America’s impact on the world been? And how durable has American’s initial idealism proved to be? Have ideals of democracy and freedom been forged across the globe as a result of the American influence, or has American oppression made the bigger impact? Has America ignored its own inequalities whilst advocating democratic capitalism elsewhere? Can America still lay claim to the idealism which fired its founders, or has materialism, with its uncomfortable corollary deprivation, lain waste to those early ideals?With Harry Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times, now an American citizen and author of The American Century; John Lloyd, associate editor of The New Statesman and former Times correspondent in Moscow and East European Editor of the Financial Times.

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