Tag Archives: Soviet Union

“Up Close” in the Soviet Union

“Up Close with American Exhibit Guides to the Soviet Union 1959-1991,” traces an American cultural adventure in what seems an almost bygone age. (The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023)

The Soviet Union allowed the United States Information Agency (USIA) to set up cultural exhibits in various Soviet cities. The exhibits were staffed by Russian-speaking American young people. They answered questions by Russian citizens, most of whom at the time had little or no access to media not controlled by their government.

Two visitors were Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who engaged in their famous “kitchen debate” in 1959.

The exhibits included examples of “American ingenuity, technology, and daily life—from graphic arts, photography, and agriculture to outdoor recreation, technology for the home, and medicine.” Visitors to the exhibits included a broad swath of Soviet people.

The American young people profited from their experience as guides. “Many went on to careers in diplomacy, business, law, academia, and the arts where their language skills and overseas experience were a plus.”

John Beyrle, one of the American guides, later joined the U.S. Foreign Service. His long career included an assignment as ambassador to Russia.

He wrote: “What we learned from the exhibits program, and what I think is still relevant to today’s Russia, is that people’s desire for the truth grows in direct proportion to the extent to which the truth is denied them. We need to offer our strongest support for the hundreds of thousands of Russians who now live in exile outside Russia . . . who seek a different future for their country, and have both the skill and the will to ensure that the truth continues to reach the largest number of people inside Russia as possible.”

Sweet Revenge for Stalin’s Gulag Archipelago

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century until his death in 1953. During that time, millions of people, dissidents and sometimes ordinary citizens with modest wealth, were sent to Soviet prisons as punishment. Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago chronicled their imprisonment.

What happened to these prisoners after their release?

The Economist (December 4th, 2021; “‘Levelling up’ at gunpoint”) pinpointed a study shedding light on this question.

Released prisoners, the study indicated, tended to settle close to where they were released, generally isolated regions of the Soviet Union. The dissidents often were well-educated. The study suggested that their choice, upon gaining freedom, was a boon for the regions where they settled. After the Soviet Union broke up, economic activity tended to grow rapidly where the released prisoners settled.

This result, the article suggested, is a revenge on Stalin’s inhuman practices: “Joseph Stalin did his best to wipe out perceived enemies.” Instead, their activities have “outlived the gulag by six decades.”

Candidate With the Most Tweets Wins

The Cold War diplomat, George Kennan, a former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, was an old-fashioned patriot who served his country because he believed in America.

Kennan influenced U.S. foreign policy as few diplomats or other public servants do. His policy of containment helped us avoid outright war with the Soviets, while waiting until the Soviet Union dissolved, surpassed by a politically and economically superior West.

Two trends in his beloved country bothered Kennan during his later years, For one, he feared its citizens were too involved in consumerism.

Secondly, he feared Americans were too prone to see complex issues in simplistic terms.

We might remember his admonitions when our political campaigns descend to tweetable sound bytes.