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INF, the Media, and the New Soviet Image-Makers
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13970 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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2 / 1988 |
1,909 Words |
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Harry Zubkoff and Stephen Aubin
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As the 1987 Reagan Gorbachev summit came to a close, both President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev hailed the signing of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty as a historic accomplishment.
History may indeed record that moment as a significant one. But history should also recognize an even more memorable scene: the world's two master image-makers standing side by side skillfully making their case for the newly signed accord to a captive audience.
While the tendency to "go public" among soviet officials is nothing new, the skill with which the Gorbachev team has applied the principles of public relations is.
In July 1987, an unusual public exchange took place between the two key negotiators in Geneva, Yuli M. Vorontsov, deputy foreign minister of the Soviet Union, and Max M. Kampelman, head of he U.S. delegation on nuclear and space weapons. The forum: the op-ed pages of the New York Times. Kampelman's article, titled "A Reply to Moscow on I.N.F. Talks," came a week after Vorontsov took Moscow's case to the American public. What were the top Soviet and American negotiators doing as they wrangled over "the remaining obstacles" to an INF accord on the pages of an American newspaper? Were they putting forth serious positions or simply engaging in public relations?
Amid the willingness of both sides to make their cases publicly, one aspect of the increased public jockeying through the media tends to be overlooked: the unequal access enjoyed by Soviet officials.
Kampelman concluded his reply to Vorontsov by saying, "I am pleased that my Soviet colleague offered his views to an American audience and that our press printed those views. I intend to offer my views to the Soviet press for publication and hope that they will reciprocate."
That brief, but poignant, conclusion highlighted the dilemma faced by U.S. negotiators: While the U.S. government must respond to public opinion, there is no such check on the leaders in the Kremlin. Moreover, Soviet officials have free and unlimited access to the U.S. and Western media, as well as the media of other countries who enjoy varying degrees of freedom of the press.
The differences between the political system of the Soviet Union and democratic systems in other countries are well known. Yet, a number of experts have pointed to a new and greater willingness on the part of Soviet leaders to try and make their case through the Western media. And as they do so, they seem to be bringing a greater awareness of the relationship between the media and public opinion in the West, particularly in the United States, to their task.
Like never before, Soviet leaders understand the importance of image. In fact, except for a few public relations embarrassments, like the time the young West German pilot, Mathias Rust, landed in Red Square, or the setback associated with the "Yeltsin affair," Gorbachev's public diplomacy report card contains none of the bad marks for heavy-handedness that characterized the Brezhnev era.
Nevertheless, while articles about the
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