SOVIET REALITIES INSTITUTE- -STATUS REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 11, 2011
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: February 28, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
OTE 86-6955
n
MAR 1986
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Executive Director
Deputy Director for Administration
Director of Training and Education
SUBJECT: Soviet Realities Institute--Status Report
REFERENCE: Memo for DCI, fm D/OTE, dtd 16 Sept 85
(OTE 85-6717), Subj: Soviet Affairs Training
Program
1. Action Requested. That you approve the attached draft
Agency-wide notice--over your signature--announcing the
establishment of the Soviet Realities Institute and encouraging its
support by individuals and managers to upgrade our understanding of
the Soviet collection and analysis target.
2. Background. We are about to launch the Soviet Realities
Institute, the organizational element that will activate the Soviet
training program previously approved by you. (Reference). We have
recruited some of America's outstanding scholars on the Soviet Union
to help out. We have found considerable interest and enthusiasm for
what we are doing.
In particular, we are asking scholars to conduct short (a
week or less) seminars on the Soviet Union. The seminars are
designed to provide an integrated overview of the nature,
functioning and objectives of the Soviet system. To date, we have
commitments from:
Seweryn Bialer 27 February - 1 March 1986
(Columbia University)
Richard Pipes
(Harvard University)
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
SUBJECT: Soviet Realities Institute--Status Report
Robert V. Daniels
(University of Vermont)
Adam Ulam
(Harvard University)
Gail Lapidus
(University of California,
Berkeley)
September 1986
October 1986
November 1986
George Breslauer January 1987
(University of California,
Berkeley)
We are currently negotiating with Wolfgang Leonhard (Yale
University), and a team of Rand Corporation experts (Arnold
Horelick, Harry Gelman and Abe Becker). Additional scholars are
being contacted in our effort to offer eight to ten seminars each
year.
All of these seminars will be videotaped for self-study use.
3. Blocks
Six instructional blocks, each providing in-depth study of
a particular discipline or issue, are being developed for
presentation as full- or part-time programs during 1986. The
scheduling will be staggered to allow for maximum participation by
Agency officers. Each block is directed by recognized specialists
who are present or former Agency employees. The blocks and their
directors are:
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
SUBJECT: Soviet Realities Institute--Status Report
5. Field Instruction and Self-Study
To reach officers) we
have initiated a program of videotaping selected presentations. We
have already taped five presentations in Russian and two in English
(Murray Feshbach, Robert Conquest) and plan to record portions of
the seminars and blocks whenever feasible We have also ordered a
series of taped lectures by outstanding scholars of Soviet affairs,
including Helmut Sonnenfeldt, Vladimir Trend and Konstantin Simis,
for distribution, self-study and/or discussion. We also anticipate
the development of seminars for delivery
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
SUBJECT: Soviet Realities Institute--Status Report
6. Conclusion
This is just a beginning. I am happy to report that there
is considerable support in the Agency for the undertaking and a
strong belief that it is long overdue. We are dedicated to the
single proposition that we must get useful information on the USSR
to the people who need it, which means flexibility, creativity and
doggedness.
I know how interested you are in the problem the Soviet
Union poses to our country today and in the coming years. Nothing
is more critical to our work as an intelligence agency and to our
future as a nation. I encourage you to play as active a role in
this undertaking as your time permits, and we welcome your ideas on
how we can better achieve our goals.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
SUBJECT: Soviet Realities Institute--Status Report
Deputy Director for Administration Date
Executive Director
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Director of Central Intelligence
OTE/ITDI I(28 Feb 86)
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee (w/att)
1 - DDCI (w/att)
1 - Exec Dir (w/att)
1 - ER (w/o att)
2 - DDA (w/att)
/1 - DTE Clirono (w/att)
1 - OTE Registry (w/att)
1 - ITD Chrono (w/att)
2 - OTE/ITD/SRI (w/att)
6
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
Draft of Agency-Wide Notice
Nothing is more critical to America's future, and the work of
the Agency, than the problem posed by the Soviet Union now, and for
the foreseeable future. We must continue to upgrade our collection
and analysis on the USSR--it is an imperative.
To strengthen our performance, I believe that we must both
broaden and deepen our understanding of the USSR. Therefore, at my
direction the Office of Training and Education has established the
Soviet Realities Institute which will offer an extensive program of
instruction on the Soviet Union. The principal objectives of the
program are to:
--bring up to speed quickly officers who work on the
USSR but whose academic or professional background on the
Soviet Union is limited;
--strengthen the understanding of Soviet specialists
in areas not of their specialty;
--strengthen the understanding of the totality of the
Soviet Union as a political problem for the U.S. and as the
first priority intelligence issue for CIA;
--challenge and enrich the perspectives of Soviet
specialists;
--build a stronger sense of community among Soviet
analysts and collectors.
The curriculum will include:
Seminars
In a series entitled "Perspectives on the Soviet Union,"
outstanding scholars have been invited to conduct short seminars on
the nature, functioning and objectives of the Soviet system.
Part-time Courses
Blocks of instruction on key disciplines and issues will be
directed by current or former Agency experts on the Soviet Union.
These blocks will include Soviet intelligence activities, foreign
policy, military policy and programs, internal politics, economics,
science and technology, and society and culture.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9
Self-study Programs
Videotapes will be made of presentations in the Soviet
Realities Institute program for self-study or discussion at
Headquarters, domestic and overseas posts.
Workshops
One-day discussions and workshops on issues of immediate
concern will be designed, involving experts from academia as well
as the intelligence and policy communities.
I strongly encourage all who are concerned with the Soviet
Union including our overseas officers collecting against the Soviet
target to take advantage of this program. In particular, those of
you who are managers have a special responsibility to insure that
your people receive the right kind of exposure and training on the
Soviet problem. In this regard, I have directed the Director of
Training and Education to report to me one year from now, with
suitable' recommendations, on how well we are doing in meeting the
objectives set forth above.
William J. Casey
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/11: CIA-RDP89-00955R000100120050-9