Organizing ourselves to deal with the Soviets

Marshall Brement

Expert InsightsPublished 1978

Outlines twenty principles for American dealings with the Soviet Union designed to ensure unambiguous communication, more effective policy-formulation, and to encourage reciprocal behavior on the part of the Soviets. This paper analyzes organizational factors influencing some of the most serious shortcomings in U.S. diplomatic practices, and offers practical suggestions about how to reorganize them to deal more effectively with our most important foreign policy problem. The author emphasizes the importance of ensuring that America's Soviet specialists make an appropriate input to policy deliberations, and that our Ambassador in Moscow is given a far greater voice in the formulation and execution of national policy. He argues for the creation of a State Department Bureau for Soviet and East European Affairs, and the training of arms control experts who are also fluent in the Russian language and have had experience in dealings with the Soviet Union.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1978
  • Pages: 30
  • Document Number: P-6123

Citation

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Brement, Marshall, Organizing ourselves to deal with the Soviets. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1978. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6123.html.
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