“The times call for a new type of interaction with soviet scientists”: scientific exchanges between the superpowers during the Reagan presidency
https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2026-1-106-127-158
Abstract
Scientific and technological interaction between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1980s constituted a complex and strategically significant dimension of the final stage of the Cold War. This article examines the transformation of U.S.–Soviet scientific exchanges during the first presidential term of Ronald Reagan (1981–1985), situating them within the broader framework of renewed geopolitical confrontation and technological rivalry. The study is based on digitized materials from the U.S. Department of State, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, CIA records, and unpublished documents from the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History.
Special attention is devoted to contacts between the USSR Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which functioned as a semi-autonomous channel of dialogue even at the height of political tensions. The article demonstrates that, contrary to later triumphalist interpretations, the Reagan administration initially lacked a coherent long-term strategy toward the Soviet Union. While prioritizing military modernization and technological superiority as key instruments of containment, it did not fully sever scientific ties. Instead, a selective approach emerged: several intergovernmental agreements were suspended, yet cooperation in medicine and environmental protection was preserved, and informal academic exchanges continued.
A central argument of the article is that American scientific institutions played an independent and influential role in resisting attempts by conservative officials to impose sweeping secrecy restrictions and curtail academic freedom. The debates over national security versus openness revealed structural tensions within U.S. policy. Ultimately, by the mid-1980s, the administration acknowledged the strategic value of maintaining limited scientific dialogue as both a source of technological insight and a political “window of opportunity” in relations with Moscow. The article concludes that scientific exchanges did not determine the outcome of the Cold War but formed an important arena in which technological competition, diplomacy, and academic autonomy intersected.
Keywords
Soviet-American relations,
Reagan,
Schultz sanctions,
technology transfer,
scientific and technical cooperation,
Cold War,
USSR Academy of Sciences,
US National Academy of Sciences
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-01399 https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-01399/
About the Author
V. T. Yungblud
Vyatka State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Valery Т. Yungblud – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of History and Political Sciences
610000, Russia, Kirov, Moskovskaya Str, 36
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Review
For citations:
Yungblud V.T. “The times call for a new type of interaction with soviet scientists”: scientific exchanges between the superpowers during the Reagan presidency. MGIMO Review of International Relations. 2026;19(1):127-158. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2026-1-106-127-158
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