"On this basis, which was originally financial and goes back to George Peabody, there grew up in the twentieth century a power structure between London and New York which penetrated deeply into university life, the press, and the practice of foreign policy"
About this Quote
The phrase "there grew up" is doing quiet rhetorical work. It suggests something organic, almost accidental, a vine curling around existing structures. That softens the agency while still arriving at a hard claim: a "power structure" spanning London and New York. He doesn’t say conspiracy; he says structure. In Quigley’s hands, that’s more devastating because it sounds like governance without elections - influence operating as routine.
His key verb is "penetrated". Not "influenced" or "touched", but entered deeply, implying institutional intimacy: appointments, editorial lines, grant priorities, credentialing, access. University life, the press, and foreign policy are listed as a triad of narrative-making, narrative-distributing, and narrative-enforcing. If you can shape what elites learn, what the public reads, and what the state does abroad, you don’t need to control everything; you only need to control the rails.
Context matters: mid-20th-century anxieties about "the Establishment", Anglo-American financial networks, and the postwar rise of technocratic policymaking. Quigley’s intent is less to scandalize than to demystify: power isn’t merely held by governments; it’s reproduced through institutions that present themselves as neutral.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (1966). Passage describing an Anglo‑American power structure between London and New York that penetrated university life, the press, and foreign-policy practice. |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Quigley, Carroll. (2026, January 17). On this basis, which was originally financial and goes back to George Peabody, there grew up in the twentieth century a power structure between London and New York which penetrated deeply into university life, the press, and the practice of foreign policy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-this-basis-which-was-originally-financial-and-50550/
Chicago Style
Quigley, Carroll. "On this basis, which was originally financial and goes back to George Peabody, there grew up in the twentieth century a power structure between London and New York which penetrated deeply into university life, the press, and the practice of foreign policy." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-this-basis-which-was-originally-financial-and-50550/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"On this basis, which was originally financial and goes back to George Peabody, there grew up in the twentieth century a power structure between London and New York which penetrated deeply into university life, the press, and the practice of foreign policy." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-this-basis-which-was-originally-financial-and-50550/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
