Spreading Anti-Communism Among Elites? Public Diplomacy, Transnational Intellectual Exchange, and the Journal Problems of Communism

This paper explores Problems of Communism, a journal initially launched in 1952 by the International Information Administration (IIA) and later managed by the United States Information Agency (USIA) until 1992, when it was renamed Problems of Post-Communism. The journal featured contributions from university professors, journalists, and independent scholars, offering sophisticated and well-documented analyses of the communist world. Targeted at an educated audience of intellectuals and public officials, it remains a rare example of a Cold War-era publication that has survived into the present, continuing to shape discussions on post-communism long after the end of the Cold War. The paper also situates Problems of Communism within the broader history of U.S. Cold War public diplomacy, analyzing how it helped construct knowledge about the communist world and mobilize intellectual authority in support of American foreign policy objectives. It examines the journal’s editorial strategies, the recruitment and positioning of its contributors, and its evolving circulation patterns in relation to shifting political conditions. In doing so, the paper sheds light on the journal’s dual function as both an ideological instrument and a site of transnational intellectual engagement, contributing to our understanding of the intersections between diplomacy and expertise in the Cold War era.