Soft power: "Exhibition of achievements of Soviet science, technology and culture", exhibition "US industrial products" (1959)

The article is devoted to the events of 1959, when, after signing an agreement in 1958, which is called the Lacey - Zarubin agreement, the USSR and the USA began to implement it. This agreement went down in history as the first agreement between two powers, which created a legal basis for the development of ties between the USSR and the USA. This agreement made it possible to carry out scientific exchanges, organize joint exhibitions and meetings. As a result of this agreement, the countries agreed to organize the Soviet "Exhibition of the Achievements of Soviet Science, Technology and Culture" in New York, and the American exhibition "US Industrial Products" in Moscow. Both powers were in a state of Cold War, so the exhibition organizers solved many problems, but primarily propaganda. It was important for the USSR to show how the country was developing after the end of World War II, so all the exhibits demonstrated the strength and power of the Soviet state, the Americans, on the contrary, decided to show the life of ordinary Americans, namely comfort. Information coverage of these grandiose events went differently. The future US President R. Nixon visited several Soviet cities, besides Moscow, as part of this exhibition, and upon arriving home he wrote an article, which he published in one famous American magazine. He was delighted with the progress of the USSR, the culture and people of the country. He wrote: "Everywhere we were in the Soviet Union, the impression was the same - the atmosphere of friendship, respect, admiration and curiosity of everyone and everything." N. S. Khrushchev held several impromptu dialogues with R. Nixon at American exhibition in Moscow, which later became known as "kitchen debates", because the first meeting took place in the pavilion, where kitchen appliances and furniture were presented.