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EXCHANGE OF LETTERS WI'I'H MEMBER.S OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY 143
right. In addition, you try to prove that behind the idea of
curtailing sovereignty the United States is hiding her intention
of economic domination and exploitation of the rest of the
world without going to war. You attempt to justify this indictment
by analyzing in your fashion the individual actions of
this government since the end of the last war. You attempt to
show that the Assembly of the United Nations is a mere puppet
show controlled by the United States and hence the American
capitalists.
Such arguments impress me as a kind of mythology; they
are not convincing. They make obvious, however, the deep
estrangement among the intellectuals of our two countries
which is the result of a regrettable and artificial mutual isolation.
If a free personal exchange of views should be made pos·
sible and should be encouraged, the intellectuals, possibly more
than anyone else, could help to create an atmosphere of mutual
understanding between the two nations and their problems.
Such an aonosphere is a necessary prerequisite for the fruitful
development of political cooperation. However, since for the
time being we depend upon the cumbersome method of "open
letters" I shall want to indicate briefly my reaction to your arguments.
Nobody would want to deny that the influence of the economic
oligarchy upon all branches of our public life is very
powerful. This influence, however, should not be overestimated.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in
spite of desperate opposition by these very powerful groups and
was re·elected three times; and this took place at a time when
decisions of great consequence had to be made.
Concerning the policies of the American Government since
the end of the war, I am neither willing, nor able, nor entitled
to justify or explain tllem. It cannot be denied, however, that
the suggestions of the American Government with regard to
atomic weapons represented at least an attempt toward the
creation of a supranational security organization. If they were
not acceptable, they could at least have served as a basis of discussion
for a real solution of the problems of international