<i>Cultural Exchange & the Cold War: Raising the Iron Curtain</i> (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews57 one ofthe inspirational forces behind the colonizationist movement was the Quaker ship captain Paul Cuffe. They inform us that Coates' most significant interracial friendship was with the first President of Liberia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a man "who lived some four thousand miles away'9 (21) and who stayed in Coates' home when visiting the United States. While the editors point out that Coates' discretion, tact, and genuine humanitarianism enabledhim to remain on cordial terms with abroad range of anti-slavery factions, they are also realistic in their appraisal of the movement to which Coates devoted so much ofhis energy: "The colonization story is, in many ways, a tragic one, reflecting the maelstrom ofracial ambivalence, evangelicalism, inflexibility, and limited imaginations that still plague American society." They find in Coates' letters manifestations ofboth "good will" and "misapprehensions," and they further find in them akey forunderstanding "this era forwhat itwas: complex, hopeful, anxious, angry, and, ultimately, a disappointment." (52) These statements are all profoundly true, and they help to explain why this collection of letters, together with the editors' helpful introduction, should be essential reading for anyone interested in Quakerhistory, orthe history ofnineteenth-century America as a whole. Stephen W. AngeliEarlham School of Religion Cultural Exchange & the Cold War: Raising the Iron Curtain. By Yale Richmond. University Park: Penn State University Press, 2003. xiv + 249 pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $35. Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: Raising the Iron Curtain (PennsylvaniaStateUniversity : 2003)byYaleRichmondis essentiallyanostalgic romp through the eras of detente and glasnost' from the perspective of a government and foundation officer who takes well-deserved pride in both direct and indirect knowledge of numerous cultural exchanges that had a profound impact on the participants and contributed, as the author claims, to the paradigmatic shifts in Soviet elite thinking that characterized the late 1980s and early 1990s. Richmond also offers some historical perspective on contact between Russians and the West, e.g. Peter the Great's encounter with Quakers and Western Europe in 1696. The most significant contribution ofthe text is as a corrective to the now largely unchallenged triumphalist version of the end of the Cold War, according to which the United States either simply spent the Soviet Union into checkmate or scared the dickens out of Gorbachev, inducing him to abdicate the throne when he realized that the USSR's inability to compete 58Quaker History internationally was coupled with growing chaos at home. In pointed contrast, Richmond's narrative provides detailed examples of exchanges, some as early as the 1950s, that served to challenge and shape the world views of actors who would later reach over and beyond the Iron Curtain to transmit ideas, techniques, and aspirations. These exchanges include both actual people-to-people visits between academic institutions, think tanks, performing artists, journalists, diplomats, film-makers, as well as the vicarious exchanges oftraveling exhibits, movies, and music. Acknowledging that ahighproportion ofthe Sovietparticipants inthese exchanges were, in fact, intelligence operatives, Richmond implies (where he does not actually state) that the end result in introducing KGB officers into the life of the United States was ultimately to persuade Soviet gatekeepers that the grass was, in fact, greener on the other side. While Richmond's listing ofexchanges appears to be encyclopedic, this reviewer knows of other exchanges that were not included in the roll call, namely the modeling work done by the Club ofRome with the observation of Soviet participants and observers in the early 1 970s, including notable scientists, technocrats, and philosophers who later became part of Gorbachev's inner circle. Other notable lapses include the absence of an explicit theoretical framework for evaluating the claim that the exchanges were transformative and the rather stunning virtual absence ofcommentary on the role of women. Richmond does include a chapter that is openly an argumentwithRichardPerle aboutwhetherthe exchanges essentially duped Westerners and transferred advanced technology to the Soviets. Ifthe text made explicit reference to the excellent work done by sociologists on the role of NGOs and other manifestations of civil society in the conduct of international relations (see, for example, Keck and Sikkink's Activists BeyondBorders), Richmond's argument would be all the more convincing. Given the overt sexism of most Soviet participants in...