The Soviet Union as an Оbject of the U.S. Сold War Mission: Real Politics and Imaginary Reality

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel identifies the Soviet patterns of American messianic idea in academic and expert knowledge as well as in business and popular cultures. Weighing the scholarly value of U.S. Sovietology, Mark Kramer emphasizes that many analyses of the Soviet Union were accurate and useful for real politics. In their turn, the three other participants explore the role of the USSR as the constitutive Other in the U.S. identity discourse via liberalism vs communism dichotomy. Igor Tarbeev demonstrates the lessons of American capitalism for the Soviet economy in representations of both the U.S. businessmen and the Soviet Amerikanist, while Victoria Zhuravleva and Aleksandr Okun examine the U.S. messianic vision of the USSR in political cartoons and popular music.

Sub Unit

• International Relations, Security Studies, Foreign Policy

Papers

• The US Businessmen in the USSR: Lessons of American Capitalism for Soviet Economic Reforms - Igor M. T

• Liberalism versus Communism: The Soviet Other in Representations of American Cartoonists - Victoria Z

• The Soviet Leaders as the 'Dark Twins' of the US Presidents in the Cold War Discourse of American Popular Music - Aleksandr O

Discussants

• Ivan I. Kurilla, Wellesley College

• Mark Nathan Kramer, Harvard U