Alaska and Magadan: The Cold War and Citizen Diplomacy

Alaska and Magadan: the Cold War and citizen diplomacy.
Magadan is a small remote town in the Russian Arctic. In Soviet times
it was known as a hub for political prisoners during the Stalinist
repressions of the 1930s-1950s, a place of a harsh climate and
suffering for countless Soviet citizens. But in 1989, an American
teacher braved both the climate and the traumatic reputation of this
place, making a pioneering journey to this remote region. Lawrence
Khlinovski Rockhill was the first Alaskan to move to Magadan where he
lived for two years (1989-1991), taught at Magadan Pedagogical
Institute, coordinated the teacher/ student educational exchange
program between the University of Alaska and Magadan Pedagogical
Institute, and received the title of Honorary Professor. Did Magadan's
reputation live up to the gloomy expectations of an average American?

As a result of this, student exchanges lasted from 1989 to the
mid-2000s, and hundreds of students and teachers from both sides of
the Bering Sea Ice Curtain visited Russia and Alaska. They lived with
each other's families, went to each other's schools, and learned what
daily life was like. For many, it was a life-changing experience, as
it was for the author, who became a student of Russian culture and
Soviet lifestyle. He lived the life of the ordinary Soviet citizen
making Magadan and its people his classroom. This is also where he
found the love of his life.

This is a book about the development of friendly relations between
Cold War enemies and between people who are the closest neighbours. It
demonstrates that citizen diplomacy plays a vital role in establishing
and maintaining peaceful relationships between countries when it was
thought by some to be impossible.