The Cold War and the United States Information Agency

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Cull
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Information Agency ◽  
The Cold War

scholarly journals The forgotten process: Information disarmament in the Soviet/US reproachment of the 1980s

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-272
Author(s):  
Nicholas Cull ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Satellite Television ◽  
Soviet State ◽  
United States Information Agency ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War

This article contends that just as an excess of conventional arms requires a disarmament processes, so the weaponization of media should be met with an information disarmament process. The article examines elements of this work deployed to assist in the US — Soviet rapprochement of the 1980s. Cases discussed include a mutual textbook review project, citizento-citizen conferences mounted by the Chautauqua Society and a series of forums held via satellite television links called Spacebridges. The emergence of government-to-government information talks in which the United States Information Agency led by Charles Z.Wick engaged various elements of the Soviet state media apparatus is traced. The meetings from 1986 through 1989 are summarized, including the frank discussion of the challenge of disinformation and of mutual stereotyping. It is asserted that this process was more effective than is generally remembered, but success required a rough symmetry within the US/Soviet relationship. The internal crisis within the USSR repositioned the country as a junior partner and led the US to misperceive the end of the Cold War in terms of victory and defeat, with counterproductive results.

Cold War “Bridge-Building”: U.S. Exchange Exhibits and Their Reception in the Soviet Union, 1959–1967

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Tolvaisas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
United States Information Agency ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Bridge Building

Following the presentation of the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959, nine exhibits organized by the United States Information Agency traveled in the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1967. This article discusses the aims, preparation, content, and reception of these exhibits, which attracted more than five million visitors and provoked diverse reactions. The exhibitions and their guides served as a unique form of communication with Soviet citizens, informing them about U.S. achievements and freedoms and the American way of life. The initiatives offset Soviet Communist propaganda, advanced popular understanding of the United States, and promoted popular goodwill toward Americans. The low-key interactions between the guides and the visitors shed valuable light on the mindset and experiences of ordinary citizens in the USSR, who were a major target audience of these exhibitions, and also, more broadly, on U.S. public diplomacy during the Cold War.

U.S.-Thai Public Diplomacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-87
Author(s):  
P. Michael Rattanasengchanh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The People ◽  
United States Information Agency ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Hearts And Minds

During the Cold War, u.s. and Thai leaders invested in public relations programs to win the hearts and minds of the people of Thailand. Changes in Thailand between the years 1957 and 1963, which gave rise to Thai General Sarit Thanarat and King Bhumibol Adulyadej to positions of political authority, strengthened u.s.-Thai relations. To project their power, Washington and Bangkok relied on practicing public diplomacy through the United States Information Agency (usia) to demonstrate the benevolence of the United States, the army’s paternalism, and the god-like image of the king. The period from 1957 to 1963 saw the beginnings of a strong u.s.-Thai relationship and the creation of a stable anti-Communist, military-monarchical government that lasted until the end of the Cold War.

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