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Documents

March 28, 1952

Radio Liberty Broadcasting Policy

An Office of Policy Coordination memorandum formulates principles guiding Radio Liberty broadcasting, which should be organized by a Russian Political Center, not duplicate Voice of America broadcasts, and aim at destroying the Soviet government’s monopoly of information.

March 15, 1952

CIA, State Department, American Committee for Liberation Discussion of Radio Liberty Broadcasting

CIA, State Department, and American Committee for Liberation (AMCOMLIB) officials agree to expand AMCOMLIB activities, share funding with Radio Free Europe from the Crusade for Freedom, and delay Radio Liberty broadcasts until a sponsoring Russian Émigré Political Center is formed

March 8, 1952

Voice of America Views of Radio Liberty Broadcasting

Voice of America Director Foy Kohler argues that without the formation of a Russian émigré political center enabling “Russians speaking to Russians," Radio Liberty would be a "bad imitation of VOA."

November 20, 1951

CIA-State Department “Summit” Limits Scope of Radio Free Europe

Assistant Secretary of State Edward Barrett reviews Free Europe Committee plans with Allen Dulles and other officials. The State Department vetoes startup of Radio Free Europe Baltic broadcasting on grounds that it would duplicate Voice of America broadcasts and insists that the Crusade for Freedom be toned down. Dulles subsequently rejects the latter point in a handwritten annotation.

September 6, 1951

CIA-State Department Reservations about Broadcasting to the Soviet Union

Senior CIA and State Department officials review the August 21 OPC memorandum ["Office of Policy Coordination History of American Committee for Liberation"]. The State Department officials question whether disparate Russian émigré groups can cooperate enough to organize broadcasting to the USSR, while CIA director Walter Bedell Smith questions the cost of the project.

August 27, 1951

Office of Policy Coordination Memorandum on Russian Emigration

OPC provides the State Department with a positive progress report on efforts to unify the Russian emigration and organize broadcasting to the USSR.

August 25, 1951

Radio Liberty Objectives Outlined

An Office of Policy Coordination officer explains Radio Liberty aims and objectives as involving “Russians speaking to Russians through an organization made up of the peoples of Russia.”

August 21, 1951

Office of Policy Coordination History of American Committee for Liberation

Frank Wisner reviews the origins of the Soviet émigré project. He considers AMCOMLIB to be a cover organization without independent authority, notes the difficulty of uniting Soviet émigré groups, yet assumes that an émigré “political center” can organize publishing and broadcasting for the Soviet Union.

May 5, 1950

Letter to DeWitt C. Poole, National Committee for Free Europe, Inc. [Approved for Release, February 16, 2011]

The Office of Policy Coordination provides the Free Europe Committee with State Department policy guidance dated April 26, 1950, calling for a range of diplomatic and information initiatives, including use of émigrés, but cautioning that broadcasts “should not promise imminent liberation or encourage active revolt.” The quoted phrase was added to the initial guidance dated April 11 and published in FRUS, 1950, IV, 14-17

April 26, 1950

Recommendations on Utilization of the Russian Emigration [Approved for Release, February 16, 2011]

Robert F. Kelley expands the recommendation of his May 3, 1949 memorandum ["Kelley Memorandum on Utilization of Russian Political Émigrés"] that the Office of Policy Coordination encourage the “existing striving of the Russian émigrés to create a central unifying organization” that would organize broadcast to the Soviet Union and be supported through a Free Europe Committee-llike committee in the United States. A longer version document of the same date, “Survey of Russian Emigration,” is available in the Kelley Papers.

Pagination