ABSTRACT
Cultural exchanges play a modest role in Soviet-American relations, but one whose importance has been recognized by both countries for its long-range benefits. A reduced role for government in Soviet-American exchanges—and its eventual elimination—has been advocated by Robert F. Byrnes, Distinguished Professor of History at Indiana University. Byrnes’ views are a desirable standard for the long term, but in the near term they raise the prospect of forgoing exchanges until the Soviet system changes, which will be a long time coming. US organizations which invite Soviets to the United States can request reciprocity, if they wish, and send their representatives to the Soviet Union at Soviet cost. Exchanges with the Soviet Union had declined between 1980 and 1986, and this reduced the need for monitoring and evaluation. One important result of exchanges has been to break the Soviet monopoly on information.
