The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

36 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL oppressing people around the world?” I found this early training to be of great use in my subsequent 30-year Foreign Service career. An early formative experience was arguing with ideo- logues in the Soviet Union, people who say they believe something because their ideology explains reality in ways they might not have experienced. In Leningrad I asked one of my Russian teachers how she could be an atheist if she could not obtain a Bible. What came back were various quotes from Lenin. At one of the exhibits, a Soviet argued thus: “Of course North Korea is democratic—just look at the full name of the country, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” Recalling early encounters like these helps me understand U.S. politics today, where people with different political points of view often find opposing views anathema. A decade later, as a U.S. Embassy Mos- cow employee from 1987 to 1990, I saw a completely different aspect of misinformation on the exhibit floor. I visited a few of the exhibits in cities I had scouted for the program. There were far fewer unpleasant agitators; and, in fact, the issue was almost completely reversed. The same number of curious visitors came through the exhibits, but they would often ask leading questions that had to be dealt with differently. Some- one would ask, e.g., “Isn’t is true that anyone in the U.S. can buy 25 pairs of jeans (a much sought-after commodity in the Soviet Union) at any time?” Well, yes, but few people would find that practical. The questioner was trying to impress upon his fellow visitors that the U.S. is a country of great abun- dance. Once again, it was important to give some context so our visitors would have a realistic idea about the U.S. Although we did not think of ourselves as overtly politi- cal, the Soviet security apparatus surely did. There were Mike Hurley, other exhibit guides, and local engineers building the geodesic dome in Odessa (now part of independent Ukraine) for the Outdoor Recreation exhibit, 1974. Although we did not think of ourselves as overtly political, the Soviet security apparatus surely did. COURTESYOFMIKEHURLEY COURTESYOFMIKEHURLEY