Abstract

Can religious cultural heritage (RCH) affect international policy decisions? Conventional social scientific studies of leaders, leadership, and decision-making frameworks often overlook this possibility. This paper explores highlights of the 1946 Iran Crisis using memoirs, archival documents, and other data. This article also examines the Baruch Plan to internationalize control of nuclear technology as part of the background against which this crisis took place. In so doing, the paper treats how President Harry Truman navigated both international law and international politics through lenses including history, political science, and political philosophy. Truman’s writings and actions reveal coherence among his philosophical ethics, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of government. Moreover, his attitudes toward sovereignty, authority, and the common good support the claim that Truman’s religious cultural heritage (RCH) influenced his patterns of thought and behavior as a decision-maker. This paper does not argue that RCH drove Truman’s attitudes and decisions. Instead, this article shows how an analysis that includes RCH can complement traditional analysis based on power, interest, opportunity, and other factors. The findings of this study open up the possibility of future work treating the influence of RCH on other nuclear and non-nuclear public policy decisions made by Truman and other world leaders.