Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Mon, 5 Oct 1998 18:33:26 -0700 (PDT)
Attention CivilSoc readers: if you respond to query below, send your
response directly to Mr. Richmond at [email protected]
SOVIET CONTACTS AND EXCHANGES WITH THE WEST:
DID THEY BRING CHANGES TO RUSSIA?
Dear Readers of CivilSoc,
I am doing research on the results of 30 years (1958-1988) of Soviets'
contacts and exchanges with the West, as well as foreign travel by Soviet
leaders and scholars/scientists, and the changes that these contacts
brought to Russia. Of course, I am well aware that most citizens of the
USSR did not participate in these exchanges, nor were they allowed to
travel to the West. Nevertheless, they did work alongside Soviet citizens
who did go abroad, and they were in a position to observe the changes in
Russian society over those thirty years. My research is expected to lead
to several articles and a book.
As a US Foreign Service Officer (now retired), I worked on those exchanges
for many years, in Washington and Moscow, and am well aware that all of
the people who came to the US under the exchanges had to have a clearance
from the Party and KGB. Nevertheless, I have talked with enough of them to
believe that many of them were indeed influenced by their study or travel
abroad. So, my question is, was that cumulative experience over the
thirty-year period transferred to Soviet society and how did it contribute
to the reform movement in the Party which culminated in the glasnost and
perestroika of the 1980s?
For those of you who may wonder why we accepted all those Party-approved
nominees for the exchanges, it's because we had no choice. Under the
US-USSR Cultural Agreement, a cardinal principle was "sending side
nominates." But, since the Communist Party was running the Soviet Union,
did it not make sense to try to influence the people who held the power?
I am the author of a history of the exchanges, "U.S.-Soviet Cultural
Exchanges, 1958-1986: Who Wins?" Foreword by Marshall D. Shulman (Westview
Press, 1987), and "From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians"
(Intercultural Press, 1992 and 1996 rev.). The latter book was written for
Americans going to Russia to work, study, advise and consult, but who know
little about Russia and its people, why they behave like Russians, and how
to get from nyet to da.
Responses may be sent by e-mail to [email protected] or to my postal
address: 3930 Connecticut Av., NW, #503, Washington, DC 20008-2429.
Information provided will be used on a non-attributable basis, if so
requested.
Yale Richmond
3930 Connecticut Av. NW, #503
Washington, DC 20008-2429
Tel/Fax: (202) 362-2325
[email protected]
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