American Power in the Netherlands: Modernization and the Politics of Clientelism, 1941-59

This book tells the story of American influence within the Netherlands after the Second World War. David J. Snyder reveals that, while American power in the Netherlands grew to touch nearly every aspect of Dutch life, that power was solicited, shaped, and sometimes resisted by the Dutch themselves. American Power in the Postwar Netherlands provides for the first time an account of the scale and scope of the US presence, and of the Dutch response to the new American fact of life. The book advances two intertwined stories: the recreation and modernization of Dutch politics, international relations, and socio-economy after the Second World War, and the role of American power in facilitating and advancing that Dutch modernization.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Patronage and Clientelism in the Postwar World 1. War and Renewal 2. The Years of Uncertainty, 1945–1946 3. The Crisis Years: Expropriating American Power, 1946–1948 4. American Power Becomes Decisive, 1948–1951 5. Dutch Military Clientelism: Securing the Verzorgingsstaat, 1949–1953 6. Cultural and Information Programming, 1948–1955 7. Reasserting Autonomy: Productivity, Austerity, and the Dutch Harmony Model, 1951–1954 8. The Waning of the American Era, 1955–1959 Conclusion: The Meaning of Clientelism in the American Century Bibliography Index

About the Author :
David J. Snyder is an independent historian based in the USA. He is the co-editor of Rebellion in Black and White: Southern Student Activism in the 1960s (2013), Reasserting America in the 1970s: US Public Diplomacy and the Rebuilding of America’s Image Abroad (2016), and The Legacy of J. William Fulbright: Policy, Power, and Ideology (2019). He has been a Netherlands-America Foundation/Fulbright Fellow to the Netherlands and was a Residential Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.

Review :
The product of years of research and deep reflection, this book draws on extensive Dutch and American archives. David Snyder explores the Dutch ambivalence toward the United States in an original way, showing how Dutch leaders skillfully used dependence on American power and aid to shape the postwar future of the Netherlands. His innovative application of clientelism offers an important and insightful transatlantic perspective. David Snyder has produced a deeply researched and conceptually sophisticated study of the complex, asymmetrical, and yet highly dialectical relationship between the United States and the Netherlands during the pivotal first decade after World War II. By thoroughly examining the multifaceted nature of this relationship—across political, military, diplomatic, and cultural dimensions—Snyder offers a rich and nuanced analysis of the U.S. imperial presence in early Cold War Europe. A masterful study of U.S.-Dutch relations, blending sharp analysis with rich historical insight. Snyder’s clientelism framework reveals a nuanced Cold War partnership – marked by negotiation, resistance, and mutual leverage – that transcends simplistic models of dominance. Essential reading for scholars of empire, diplomacy, and transatlantic history.