From Stockholm to Leiden: the CIA's role in the formation of the International Student Conference

Abstract

This study contributes to the growing knowledge of CIA covert operations among non-governmental organizations during the Cold War by examining the formation of the International Student Conference (1950) and the creation of its Coordinating Secretariat (COSEC). The ISC objectives were global in scope — to organize the world's national student unions into a network that could deny the pro-Soviet International Union of Students its claim to represent the world student population. The CIA's reach depended heavily on the US National Student Association, which provided both a rationale for funding flows from the United States, and a steady stream of personnel. The structure of the relationship was complex and cumbersome, since the CIA had to work secretly through two organizations (NSA and ISC) whose legitimacy rested on democratic processes. This complexity suggests that issues of power and control require a more nuanced formulation than is usually presented in much Cold War political research.