As one of the world's greatest and most respected scholars on Russia, James
Billington accompanied President and Mrs. Reagan to the Soviet Summit in Moscow
in 1989. Author of The Face of Russia, the book and the PBS TV series,
Dr. Billington will explore the history and promise of the Russian people
through their art and cultural achievements, which, he says, will help offset
the lasting damage wrought by the attempt to build the world's first state
based on an atheistic ideology. He will examine the search for a new Russian
identity, the looming struggle between authoritarian nationalism and democratic
federalism, and the curious ways in which America is more involved than it
realizes in the fate of Russia. Since 1987, James Billington has been The
Librarian of Congress.
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