Citizen Diplomacy Travel Program

The mission of the Citizen Diplomacy Travel Program, CCI’s first official program in 1983, was to expose American citizens to their counterparts in the USSR and to reduce Superpower tensions by shattering decades of dangerous fears and stereotypes between citizens of the two enemy nations.

CCI travelers taking part in Soviet May Day Parade in 1985

During the politically tense seven-year period prior to the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, CCI facilitated tens of thousands of face-to-face interactions between Soviet and American citizens through its travel program. Undaunted by the FBI, KGB and CIA, thousands of determined “citizen diplomats” carried out a radically new kind of diplomacy, building relationships rather than erecting official standoff postures.

Americans made contact with the Soviet people any way they could, initially using contacts on the street, in metros, parks and market places. The results were visits in tiny Soviet apartments where political discussions with teachers, professors, doctors and lawyers were held long into the night. CCI travelers opened the minds and hearts of Soviet citizens toward America, and Soviets received their first taste of communicating with free individuals who lived in a free society. American travelers were forever changed as a result of going to the enemy country and finding no enemy at home.

All Citizen Diplomacy travelers pledged to perform six months of public education upon return from their trips. They became public educators to their fellow Americans in Rotary Clubs, schools, universities, city hall meetings, churches and professional associations. Hundreds of thousands of Americans learned about citizens of the USSR through the U.S. travelers’ presentations, newspaper articles, television and radio interviews. A CCI newsletter kept the growing list of participants apprised of latest events and trips.

World War II veteran (left) who liberated Russian prisoners with Soviet war veterans

CCI’s Citizen Diplomacy Travel Program completed its mission and closed in 1991. As the USSR was falling apart, the country’s top journalist, Vladimir Pozner, wrote that American citizens set in motion a mass effort of goodwill and openness toward Russians – and that the effect of citizen diplomacy had “no small influence” on Soviet policy during those critical years.

Although CCI’s Citizen Diplomacy Travel Program ended with the fall of the USSR in 1991, it was solely responsible for generating the passion, knowledge and contacts for CCI’s future work.