Title: What Russians Think of Americans | Foreign Affairs
Headings: What Russians Think of Americans
What Russians Think of Americans
By Frederick C. Barghoorn
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Content: No observer sees more than signs, here and there. My own opinion is that more of it remains than might be supposed -- and more than the Soviet leaders like to admit. In the past, it has often seemed necessary for Soviet officials to warn the Soviet people against the seductive fascination of America. Thus, Stalin in his celebrated conversation with Emil Ludwig in 1931 took occasion to correct the impression that the Russian people had "special respect for everything American." The necessity seems to continue, as shown by an article in Izvestia for August 13, 1947. The article is a diatribe against foreigners, but no less against Russians who have an inferiority complex toward the west. It reveals that this feeling is widespread, and it is studded with such phrases as "Now there exist all the possibilities for the complete liquidation of a most harmful residue in the consciousness of certain citizens of the U.S.S.R. -- subservience to the west." The carefully controlled Soviet press often offers such hints that there is a gap between what the Russian people believe and what the Kremlin wants them to believe. In travels to and from Vladivostok, the Ukraine and the Caucasus during 1946 and the first three months of 1947, I noticed no diminution of popular friendship and esteem for Americans. Even at the time of the Iranian crisis and Mr. Churchill's speech at Fulton, Missouri, I met with the customary cordiality and friendly curiosity from the rank and file of the Russians.