The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

26 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The Photography USA brochure, at 64 pages, was given to each visitor as they left the exhibit, along with a pin called a znachok . The brochure always featured a greeting from the current U.S. president inside the front cover. Right: The Agriculture USA exhibit brochure. (now St. Petersburg), and Kiev (now Kyiv) to the far reaches of Tashkent, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok. Some 20 million Soviet citizens saw the exhibitions and enjoyed the opportunity to speak openly with the young Russian-speaking American guides, who candidly discussed the basic values and beliefs of American society. Approximately 300 Americans worked as guides in this historic outreach effort. Many went on to careers in diplo- macy, business, law, academia, and the arts where their language skills and overseas experience were a plus. The primary outreach to the people of the Soviet Union, the exhibitions dramatically illustrated how cultural exchange can be the starting point for increased understand- ing and more constructive relationships between citizens of the world. The program, which also included less well-known Soviet exhibits to the U.S., required the participation of peo- ple from all spheres of American life and was only possible through the close cooperation of the former United States COURTESYOFJOHNBEYRLE COURTESYOFJOHNBEYRLE