Soviet Cultural Diplomacy

...Displays of scientific, technological, medical and other achievements are designed to foster admiration for and good will toward the Soviet Union, particularly among idealistic and discontented intellectuals in the underdeveloped countries...

...It also serves to identify the Soviet Union with scientific and artistic pursuits which people tend to associate with peace and human welfare...

...The term cultural diplomacy is a useful one to apply to the Soviet campaign of international public relations...

...If, then, the chief purpose is to support the peace propaganda campaign and to contribute to the "psychological disarmament" of non-Communists, the second important purpose is to create a positive image of Soviet "socialist" civilization...

...To a very great degree those responsible for conducting Moscow's cultural diplomacy have sought to create the appearance of communication rather than its reality...

...Russia is using a campaign of 'psychological disarmament' against the West SOVIET CULTURAL DIPLOMACY By Frederick C. Barghoorn Frederick C. Barghoorn, Professor of Political Science at Yale University, was attached to the United States Embassy in Moscow from 1941 to 1947...

...For some time before and after World War II, Moscow was too preoccupied with other tasks to mount a major effort in cultural diplomacy...

...Soviet tourism has grown rapidly and three million Soviet citizens, in spite of obstacles interposed, were permitted to visit the American Exhibition in Moscow last summer, though there was a concurrent and massive propaganda campaign depreciating both the Exhibition and American culture...

...In this connection it is important to realize that the USSR has worked energetically and systematically to capitalize on the predispositions of its target audiences...

...What are the main calculations underlying Soviet cultural diplomacy...

...Soviet cultural diplomacy presents a challenge the West must meet...

...Perhaps the most obvious is in deepening our understanding of the social and political system which challenges us, and of expanding the professional competence of young specialists who will be our future experts on the USSR and its policies...

...The strategy in much of its intercultural communication is to establish in the minds of the foreign audience identifications between Soviet values and the values cherished by the audience, be it in India, Indonesia, Cuba or Ethiopia...

...The Kremlin, of course, realizes that freedom of communication presents great risks for a regimented society, and surely does not intend an early raising of the Iron Curtain...

...The Soviet Union, on the other hand, has almost from its founding carried on a massive, systematic and aggressive program of cultural diplomacy...

...It is relatively simple, moreover, for the controlled Communist press to create an appearance of overwhelming success for Soviet activities abroad, whether applied to performances of the Bolshoi Ballet, Soviet exhibits in Brussels or New York, or the travels of Premier Khrushchev himself...

...The regime's prestige is bolstered by the acclaim which greets performances of Soviet artists abroad or the achievements of Soviet scientists...

...Even the more political types of Soviet citizen abroad engage in a great deal of information gathering which might be useful in Soviet foreign propaganda...

...While intelligence and espionage considerations probably do not play a preponderant role, they do play some part...

...Nor must we allow Soviet propagandists to present their views unchallenged...

...Testimony by a number of Soviet defectors indicates that Moscow frequently employs cultural relations as a "cover" for intelligence activities...

...THE IMPORTANCE of cultural diplomacy as a factor in international affairs has been underscored in the past two or three years...

...Jamming of certain foreign radios, such as Radio Liberty (staffed largely by Soviet refugees), has continued...

...Indications are that communications of this kind will increase between the two super-powers and that both will continue to expand their exchange programs with the rest of the world as well...

...But the results to date of American efforts to cope with the challenge of Communist cultural diplomacy are, on the whole, encouraging...

...ANOTHER MOTIVE for the Kremlin cultural campaign is related to domestic propaganda...

...While Soviet representatives abroad have often been hampered by such essential features of the Soviet system as fear of establishing intimate personal relations with foreigners, they have usually been quite successful in situations where lavish display, pageantry and the rhetoric of good intentions could produce the desired effects...

...Patience, resourcefulness and a happy combination of governmental and private enterprise are required...

...Should the West therefore spurn it...

...This reinforces the picture of the Soviet Union as the leader of "progressive mankind...

...We must not permit the Kremlin to deny us access to Soviet communications facilities and to prevent people from establishing normal contacts with Soviet citizens...

...He has written for many periodicals, including Foreign Affairs and the Journal of American History...

...One might define the term as efforts, particularly by exchange of persons, but also by exchanging publications, art materials, etc., to increase the influence of the culture or "way of life" of one nation with respect to other nations...

...And this impression is strengthened by the constant warnings the Soviet press issues against the West trying to utilize cultural exchanges for subversive purposes in the USSR...

...The answer to both questions is no...

...Nevertheless, there are grounds for believing that if and when contacts between Russians and Americans become more frequent and normal, the ideological differences may diminish in intensity...

...In the interim, there are more modest but certainly real rewards to be reaped in exchanges...

...Some non-Communist countries, such as France, Germany or the United Kingdom, have had long experience in this field, but until quite recently, the United States had no such organized program...

...In this article he explores the use of cultural exchanges to create a positive world-wide image of Soviet civilization...

...While there is little doubt democracy would benefit far more than totalitarianism from a crumbling of the barriers between free and Communist worlds, we must be wary of mistaking appearances for realities...

...If Soviet travelers and students abroad, who have been trained primarily in the humanities or social sciences, appear to devote less attention to acquiring new information than to disseminating Soviet propaganda, this is definitely not true of scientists and engineers...

...Is it an advantageous instrument only to totalitarian countries...

...Many fail to understand the complexity of Soviet communications behavior...

...In addition, there is the Kremlin's well-known desire to obtain useful information abroad...

...Creating a "socialist culture" has been one of the Kremlin's central preoccupations, and the export of Soviet culture has for several generations been a major task of Soviet foreign policy...

...This shrewd, complex tactic involves, for example, establishing personal and professional connections which foster the image of the USSR as a peace-loving country...

...Of course, substantial resources were devoted to this program only when the USSR was strong...

...In 1959, too, the U.S...

...During his September 1959 visit to the United States, Nikita Khrushchev repeatedly asserted that the Soviet Union stood for the broadest possible cultural and scientific exchanges, and in December of that year, after long and arduous negotiation, the U.S.-Soviet agreement on educational, scientific and cultural exchange, originally concluded in January 1958, was extended for another two years...

...The logic of contemporary events requires expansion of international communication, and the fanaticism and hysteria historically associated with totalitarianism will probably be lessened in an atmosphere of free communication...

...But barriers to normal communication with Soviet citizens continue, reinforced by frequent newspaper warnings about "foreign intelligence services...

...By now the hardworking, note-taking Soviet traveler is a familiar figure to many Europeans and Americans...

...Soviet leaders invariably couple their statements praising "freedom of contacts" with assurances that contacts and exchanges promote peace...

...Large-scale and expensive efforts such as the Soviet Exhibition of Science, Technology and Culture in New York, or the American National Exposition in Moscow, were also major recent features of the Soviet-American exchange program...

...In a word, cultural diplomacy is the conduct of cultural relations for political objectives, or at least with an awareness of the possible political consequences of such relations...

...Indian intellectuals may find their Soviet counterparts personally stiff and uncommunicative, but Soviet musicians and dancers performing local dances will be quite successful...

...Though Soviet jamming of the Voice of America and other foreign radio broadcasts earlier in the year was selective rather than total, the USSR seems to have reintensified its strong campaign against foreign broadcasts since the ill-fated U-2 flight...

...Both text and context of official statements indicate that one of the chief purposes is to facilitate the success of the Communist "peace offensive...

...Large numbers of specialists are being trained in the history, languages and literatures of virtually every people in the world so that Soviet cultural diplomats are indoctrinated with at least a formal attitude of respect for their cultures and achievements...

...Those Western diplomats—though many old-line professionals still think cultural diplomacy is unconventional, the majority in London and Washington seem to approve—who believe that in the long run such cultural relations can facilitate gradual erosion of totalitarianism are probably right...

...For this reason, the post-Stalin "cultural offensive" caught many in the West by surprise...

...Clearly, Moscow attributes great importance to cultural diplomacy and believes it can reap rich rewards by successfully practicing it...

...Author of The Soviet Image of the United States and Soviet Russian Nationalism, he contributed the section on the Communist party to the volume entitled Modern Political Parties...

...State Department established a new Bureau of International Cultural Relations...