ABSTRACT
The whole idea of freedom of movement has been alien to the Russian way of thinking since tsarist times. In medieval Europe the free movement of people across borders was facilitated by the Latin lingua franca and by the universality of the Catholic church. The problem of free emigration from the USSR has been a serious obstacle in US-Soviet relations. For an immigrant country such as ours, the very idea of being forbidden to leave one's country is abhorrent. But Russian tradition has always viewed emigration as a sign of disloyalty and ingratitude. Soviet newspapers have prominently featured articles describing the hardships encountered by former Soviet citizens who now live in the United States, Germany, or Israel. The rare emigrants who permanently returned to the Soviet Union would be pressed to make public condemnations of the capitalist way of life.
