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: American observers who have had experience in the Soviet Union agree almost without exception that Russians and Americans tend to like one another and to get on well together when conditions for friendly relationships are at all favorable. It is important that American public opinion realize the existence of this reserve of good will toward America among the Russian people, and that American policy do everything possible to maintain and increase it. But how much of this attitude remains, after the campaign of suspicion and hate of the past two years? Though the question is a very relevant one, no assured answer can, of course, be given. Russia is vast, and even more than in other lands, the currents can run far below the surface. 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.