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Remarks by Ambassador Beyrle

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Ambassador Beyrle speaking at the conference

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Ambassador Beyrle speaking at the conference

Remarks at the Opening of Conference on The Role of Exchanges in the U.S.-Russian Relationship

Spaso House

July 9, 2009

Distinguished Guests;  Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am very pleased to open today’s conference on the role of exchanges in the U.S.-Russian relationship.    

I want to thank those of you have come here today to share your memories of the past and your ideas for the future.  

I would like to thank Olga Borisovna Pokrovskaya, Editor-in-chief of America magazine, who provided rare  photos for the photo exhibit at the conference.

I’d like to thank Vladimir Meletin, who has made a remarkable new film of the 1959 exhibition, which he is presenting to participants today.

My special thanks to Aleksey Fominykh and Michael Jelisavcic, for providing material from the original comment books Russian visitors signed at the exhibition.

I want to thank Sam Greene and the Carnegie Center, our conference organizer.   For the past fifteen years, in good times and bad, Carnegie has been the place where both Russians and Americans could get together and talk frankly and freely with each other.  When our relationship was difficult, when we were talking at each other and not with each other, Carnegie participants reminded us of our common interests and helped get the relationship back on track.

I also want to thank PepsiCo, which generously agreed to sponsor this conference;  and former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Don Kendall,  who has devoted so much of his time and energy to building better relations between our countries.   When most Americans saw Russia as a rival and potential enemy, Mr. Kendall had the rare wisdom and foresight to see Russia as a potential partner and friend.    He opened the way for what we’re doing today.

This is an historic week for the Russian-American relationship.   Yesterday President Obama finished an historic visit to Moscow, which resulted in important agreements on arms control, non proliferation, military cooperation, and public health.   Presidents Medvedev and President Obama also signed an agreement to establish a Bilateral Commission, whose members include the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, whose office is responsible for exchange programs, and her Russian counterpart.   Exchanges are an important part of the agenda between our two countries.

This conference is of special importance to me personally, because both topics;   exhibits and exchanges, were important parts of my life.    I was an exchange student in Leningrad in the 1970s, and I learned the importance of learning languages,  and of seeing the world as others see it, which you only get from exchange programs.  

I was also an exhibit guide in the 1970s, and I saw myself how the exhibit changed the way many Russians saw America.    America was no longer a place they read about in Pravda or saw on the evening news-  it was the things they had seen with their own eyes at the exhibit;  America was Polaroid,  Ford,  Whirlpool, and Pepsi;  it was us. It changed the people who came;  and even more, it changed us, the guides.

In my three tours in Russia, I have seen personally how Exchanges have changed our relationship.  I have seen the thousands of young Russians who have returned from exchange programs in the United States, who returned with American friends, and with a completely different view of the United States.    

When I was young,   we saw Russians only on TV or in the movies.    Today, there are thousands of Russians studying at American high schools and universities, and visiting the United States on professional exchange programs.    That is the foundation of our future relationship, and the hope for better relations between our countries.

We will begin today with a discussion of the legacy and accomplishments of our exchange programs since the 1959 exhibit, and then talk about the challenges and opportunities for future exchanges.   What can we learn from the past?  How do we overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy, the financial crisis, and competing interests?   How can we get more Russians coming here?  How can we have more Americans going to Russia?  What can government do, and what can the private sector do?

As Don Kendall showed, one person with a good idea and the ability to inspire others can change history.   What can each of us do in our own way to improve exchange programs and make our relationship better?   I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.