In Graham Greene’s novel The Quiet American, York Harding represents the American neo-colonial ideologies that Alden Pyle is trying to implement and that Thomas Fowler wants to undermine. Harding and his book, The Role of the West, stand for the hypocrisy of a position that purports to promote democratic governance but is actually more concerned with increasing US political and economic control than with supporting Vietnamese independence.

Pyle refers to Harding’s work to justify the presence of US agents in Vietnam, where they ostensibly support a goal of encouraging an alternative to both the old system, which was French colonial rule, and the looming threat of Soviet and Chinese domination. The “third force” that Harding advocates can supposedly remain neutral and operate by peaceful means. Greene suggests, however, that this position is a thin disguise for military intervention that will bolster US control, keeping the young country dependent rather than truly supporting its independence.