... to authoritarianism under Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. Although the Library of Congress was a relatively small institution as US government agencies go and, with limited exceptions, had no explicit legal or budgetary mandate to involve itself in foreign policy, Billington continued efforts almost to the end of his...

...This chapter discusses three factors, specific to the Library of Congress, which are important in explaining why and how the Library interacted so intensively with Russia after 1987. The first was James H. Billington's appointment as Librarian of Congress and his personal commitment to using his...

... Billington's influence on US engagement with Russia as it transitioned from communism to democracy under Gorbachev and Yeltsin and back to authoritarianism under Yeltsin and Putin. It casts new light on this era. Billington's efforts led to a remarkable degree of cooperation between the Library of Congress...

... half of the twentieth century: the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and the dissolution of the USSR itself. This was also a momentous time for the Library of Congress. The Library hosted Raisa Gorbachev, Sakharov, Likhachev, and other prominent...