The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

priced paperbacks in local lan- guages. Tens of millions of books were issued under the program, with the additional benefit of giving American publishing firms their first significant export presence in mar- kets previously dominated by British, French and Soviet publish- ers. The agency also became the largest producer of documentary films on earth, including hundreds produced by the agency’s local posts. These productions attracted large audiences in urban movie theaters and in remote villages. The means of delivery in rural areas without electricity was by “mobile units” — sturdy jeeps equipped with a gener- ator, together with a reinforced roof from which a film could be project- ed at night over the heads of audi- ences in town squares, often against a whitewashed wall. During the Cold War years, over 350 USIS mobile units roamed the world’s out- backs. Cultural Diplomacy Any assessment of USIA’s long- term effectiveness would have to give major credit to its cultural oper- ations. These included the library network as well as the cultural cen- ters the agency helped set up with local sponsors in over a hundred large cities abroad. However, the most lasting impact was made by the cultural exchange programs, which were jointly managed by USIS posts overseas and by the State Depart- ment in Washington. Beginning with a small Fulbright scholarship program in 1947, the scope of cul- tural exchanges was expanded to encompass students, academics, media leaders and government offi- cials, along with performing groups r a n g i n g f r om t h e Ne w Yo r k Philharmonic to Appalachian square dancers. In the 1940s there were fewer than twenty thousand foreign stu- dents in American colleges and uni- versities; today there are a half-mil- lion, with students from China mak- ing up the largest overseas contin- gent. Several years ago, an industri- ous researcher attempted to calcu- late the federal government’s total financial contribution to cultural exchange operations during the postwar decades. He put the overall figure at about $5 billion, arguably one of the most effective budgetary outlays in U.S. government history. USIS posts in Communist-bloc countries operated under particular- ly tight restrictions imposed by local regimes. Eventually, cultural agree- ments with the Soviet government (and, less successfully, with the Chinese) provided limited openings for agency operations. USIA’s pavil- ion-size exhibits in the USSR and Eastern Europe attracted enormous audiences eager for a look at the world beyond their closed borders. The results were often startling: on the opening day of a Moscow exhib- it in 1959, visitors stole dozens of books from a display sponsored by American publishers. The Kremlin insisted that the replacement vol- umes be bolted down — a demand that was rejected. A particularly useful exchange operation focused on inviting up- 60 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 3 The agency’s officer corps was, by and large, a pick-up crew that got its training as propagandists on the job. TEN TOP REASONS TO JOIN DACOR (Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired) 10. Guest rooms at less than half of per diem 9. Sunday musicales with rising stars 8. Annual conference on key issue or country 7. Receptions for A-100 classes and new ambassadors 6. Scholarships for Foreign Service dependents 5. Top lecturers on foreign affairs and culture 4. Reasonable dues (half off for active-duty personnel) 3. Memorable venue for private or representational functions 2. Five blocks from State 1. Congenial collegiality in an elegant, historic home Richard McKee Executive Director 1801 F St., NW Washington, DC 20006 202-682-0500 d acor@dacorbacon.org www.dacorbacon.org