A Review of Activities of Franklin Book Program in Iran within the Context of Cold War

One of the salient features of the Cold War was the cultural rivalry between the Eastern and Western blocs. To dominate different countries, instead of pursuing a direct policy and using military force, the Soviet Union and the United States sought to penetrate the civil society through cultural instruments and by focusing on people’s thought. In this campaign, the United States managed to dominate the civil society of developing countries by means of music, film, fashion, book publishing, and by instilling the idea of ​​democracy and liberalism, and thus became the hegemonic power. In the field of publication, Franklin Book Program, by establishing numerous branches in many developing countries, transformed the book publishing industry, and managed to influence the civil society of these countries and capture the cultural arena. The findings of the present descriptive-analytical study, based on historical documents, show how the US hegemony in Iran was developed by relying on the publishing industry. In addition, this research sees the activities of the Franklin Book Program in Iran and the world in the context of a macro-cultural competition in the international sphere.