This dissertation examines how the Near East Foundation (NEF), an American philanthropic organization, implemented rural education and modernization programs across the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and Iran from 1930-1979. Despite its benevolent rhetoric of uplifting "backward" communities, NEF's initiatives embodied paternalistic attitudes rooted in Western notions of civilizational superiority that justified prescriptive interventions while discounting local agency. The study traces NEF's evolution from interwar relief work through Cold War technical assistance, analyzing how it implemented village improvement schemes through vocational education, model farms, public health outreach, and livestock programs. A key focus is the role of NEF's "global" actors - American experts who shaped strategies while traversing between field sites, universities and power centers - and "mobal" actors from the region who served as crucial intermediaries but faced constraints within the organization's hierarchies. The research demonstrates how NEF capitalized on various crises - from the Greek-Turkish population exchanges to Cold War tensions - to gain footholds in different regions. While claiming political neutrality, NEF's assistance often aligned with colonial agendas, corporate interests, and increasingly authoritarian governance. As Cold War pressures intensified, NEF shifted from community development toward technical expertise provision, exposing how its programs served expanding US strategic interests. Through extensive archival research, this study illuminates the persistent power dynamics and civilizing mission ideologies that resided beneath NEF's professionalized rhetoric of neutral development assistance. This critical examination contributes to understanding the complex history of Western-led interventions in the Middle East and beyond.