“How a Cold War Strategy Transformed the University of Chicago into a Hub of South Asian Knowledge!”

The United States’ Public Law 480 program enabled India to purchase American grain using local currency, alleviating the country’s foreign exchange burden. In return, the Indian government used the funds to purchase Indian books and periodicals for American universities.

This initiative, also known as “Food for Peace,” was part of the US’s Cold War diplomacy. As a result, the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library became a major beneficiary, accumulating over 800,000 books on South Asia, making it one of the largest collections of its kind worldwide.