David W. McFadden - Böcker

Between 1917-1920 - from the Bolshevik Revolution to the definitive statement of American opposition to Bolshevik Russia - Soviets and Americans searched for ways to effect meaningful interaction between the nations in the absence of formal diplomatic relations. During these years wide-ranging discussions occurred on a variety of serious issues, from military collaboration and economic relations to the comprehensive settlement of political and military disputes. At the same time extensive debates took place in both countries about the nature of the relations between them. As McFadden shows in this pathbreaking book, based on research in Soviet archives, as well as previously unused private collections and government archives in the United States and Great Britain, a surprising number of concrete agreements were reached between the two countries, including continued operation of the American Red Cross in Russia, the transfer of war materials from the Russian army to the Americans, the sale of strategic supplies of platinum from the Bolsheviks to the United States, the exemption of a number of American corporations from Soviety nationalization, and the numerous trade contracts betwen the Soviet government and American firms. Numerous imkportant diplomats and politicians were involved in these negotiations. Most of the details, characters and nature of these discussions and their efforts have previously been overlooked or downplayed by historians. In the post-Cold War era, such a re-evaluation should have special relevance. re-evaluation of this critical period, McFadden shows how a surprising number of concrete agreements were reached between the two nations, and the relevance of this in light of current events such as glasnost.

Although there have been many studies of U.S.–Soviet diplomacy in the twentieth century, most explorations of people-to-people diplomacy begin in the 1980s and to not take into account the early contacts in the revolutionary period and 1920s. This study explores in greater depth the religious figures, radical activists, entrepreneurs, engineers, social workers, and others in both the U.S. and the Soviet Union who reached across the barriers of ideology and culture and history to forge tentative but real human connections in an attempt to further better understanding between the two countries. All of these efforts prefigured the much more heralded "citizen diplomacy" efforts of the 1980s, which helped end the Cold War.

Although there have been many studies of U.S.–Soviet diplomacy in the twentieth century, most explorations of people-to-people diplomacy begin in the 1980s and to not take into account the early contacts in the revolutionary period and 1920s. This study explores in greater depth the religious figures, radical activists, entrepreneurs, engineers, social workers, and others in both the U.S. and the Soviet Union who reached across the barriers of ideology and culture and history to forge tentative but real human connections in an attempt to further better understanding between the two countries. All of these efforts prefigured the much more heralded "citizen diplomacy" efforts of the 1980s, which helped end the Cold War.

Arthur Bullard’s The Russian Pendulum (1919) is a personal and political analysis of the Russian Revolution, from the Revolution of 1905 through the beginning of the Civil War in 1918. It reflects Bullard’s own perspective, as an advocate for change in Russia with American help. Bullard’s experience as an advisor to Colonel House and Woodrow Wilson as a key staffer for the Committee for Public Information in Russia strongly colors his analysis. In this provocative study, Bullard analyzes the February Revolution, Lenin’s success with “land and peace” proposals, and then ends with Bullard’s own proposals, entitled “What IS To Be Done?” Here he argues that those concerned with Russia should seek information on all sides of the problem and should accept that an “agrarian revolution” has occurred and that any regeneration of Russia must involve public education and commerce. If the United States is to help, it must provide education cooperation, and avoid military intervention.