Highway Infrastructure Politics: Cold War Power, Culture, and the US Interstate Highway Abroad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18124167Anahtar Kelimeler:
Bureau of Public Roads, Interstate Highway, United States, Cold War, TechnologyÖzet
This article examines the historical roots and impact of the United States (US) Interstate Highway System on global highway networks. The article utilizes primary sources from the National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland, as well as website publications and journal articles. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), the system’s creators, had a profound influence on the development of highways across regions. Several case studies of selected European and Asian countries have been used to exemplify this. However, by providing a comprehensive understanding of the Interstate System’s role in global highway history, this article asserts that the efforts of US Interstate Highway planners after World War II have reshaped highway systems abroad, using theories of modernization, soft power, and technology transfer to achieve this. This article contends that the US Interstate Highway was not only a domestic project but also an instrument of Cold War diplomacy. Thus, this article contributes significantly to our understanding of Cold War infrastructure, demonstrating how an infrastructural project can serve as a mechanism of transnational power relations (soft power), tracing highways as global tools of US power.
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Telif Hakkı (c) 2026 International Journal of Social and Humanities Sciences Research (JSHSR)
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