«Non-stalin’s» Soviet Union: formation and transformation of the new international image of the country in the years of thaw (1953-1968)

Abstract

The time of thaw is a period of significant changes in the political, economic and cultural life of the Soviet Union and its citizens. They were connected not only with the adoption and implementation of specific decisions, but also with the formation of a new image of the country - the «different» USSR. The Cold War is also the «image war»: the image of the «enemy», which is equally characteristic of both the perception of the Western world in the USSR and the Soviet Union in the Western countries, has become a serious obstacle to the creation of a new quality of communication between them. The new image of the USSR was created, of course, taking into account the mood of the Western audience, its requests and fears. Therefore, the «different» Soviet Union had to be positioned, first of all, as the «non-Stalin» USSR. The article is devoted to the process of forming the image of the «non-Stalin» USSR in the years of thaw as part of its international image.