ABSTRACT
The Soviet agencies responsible for exchanges and the officials who direct them need the protective cover of an agreement to justify their exchanges with the United States. The Soviets don’t talk publicly about their objectives, and there is no Soviet equivalent to our Freedom of Information Act. Exchanges could be used to earn foreign currency. The Soviets have a surplus of world class performing artists, and their conservatories and international music competitions produce a new crop each year. The early years of exchanges were the learning years, when two vastly different societies had to learn how to work together. Cultural exchanges were released from the strictures of the intergovernmental agreement with its quotas and limits. A new cultural agreement, signed at the 1973 summit, was valid for six years rather than the previous two, implying more continuity and permanence to exchanges.
