Reorienting Khrushchev’s Russia: Indo-Soviet Cultural Diplomacy, 1948-1968

Jeremiah Wishon
History
UC Riverside

Jeremiah Wishon’s research explores Soviet cultural diplomacy with India from 1948-1968, focusing most heavily on the tenure of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. He seeks to identify the nature, motive, and extent of Soviet efforts to produce favorable public relations in India, the nation most central to Khrushchev’s so-called “peace offensive” strategy toward the Third World during the Cold War. His work outlines Soviet goals in the subcontinent, how Bolshevik ideology drove the phenomenon of cultural exchange, the manner in which and mechanisms through which Soviet institutions and individuals participated in Indo-Soviet public relation efforts, and the ways in which the Khrushchev period followed and broke with policies and developments begun under the Stalinist leadership. Jeremiah is also interested in the impact that Soviet uses of “soft power” in India had on the Soviet Union’s own domestic system, as their policies necessitated new infrastructure, specialists, and tourist services, while the populace simultaneously came into contact with ideas, cultural products, consumer goods, and people from the subcontinent.