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A week ago, the Munich headquarters of RFE was bombed, causing $2 million worth of damage but no interruption in service. West German investigators are focusing, as one put it, on "the possibility of an attack by foreign agents."
The U.S. effort is supplemented by other Western broadcasts, particularly the highly regarded BBC World Service, which has 10 million listeners in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Funded by the British government at some $100 million a year, it has been praised by Soviet dissidents for its accuracy and professionalism—and savored by expatriate Britons, and not a few Americans as well, around the world. "People tune to us because we still have a reputation of credibility," says a BBC executive.
How effective are Soviet and American propaganda efforts in the crucial battlegrounds of the Third World and nonaligned states? Many State Department diplomats feel that the ICA is amateurish, underfunded, ineffective and occasionally counterproductive. India, reports TIME New Demi Bureau Chief Marcia Gauger, provides a clear, if somewhat dispiriting, example. Says one Indian: "The impact is that the great white father has come to dispense knowledge on his lowly children." The Soviet presence, on the other hand, is extensive, sensitive and effective. Says Indian Housewife Jayshree Ramanathan: "When Brezhnev was here, they sent a booklet on what a great guy he is, from his grandparents through his life to his grandchildren." The booklet, which describes the Soviet leader as a boy who rose from poverty, was printed in 14 Indian languages and distributed all over the country. The Soviets have the Communist Party of India to work through, its party newspaper called the Patriot to reflect their line, and considerable influence over other newspapers through propaganda advertisements, such as descriptions of visiting Moscow delegations.
When American aid to India was reduced in the early '70s, so was the U.S. propaganda effort there. The Soviets, meantime, have stepped up their efforts. There are 50% more Soviet radio broadcasts to India than American ones per week, and the monthly magazine Soviet Land, published in twelve languages, has a circulation almost eight times that of America's Span, which costs more than three times as much. The U.S. provides Indian editions of about 200 books and six academic texts; the Soviet catalogue is 144 pages long and lists some 2,200 titles. In addition to propaganda tracts, the Soviets offer such things as medical textbooks (nearly 50 titles) priced as low as $1.10 a copy.
The Soviets have also just reactivated their "Friends of the Soviet Union" program, while ICA-sponsored Indo-American Friendship Societies have languished. The American effort is based on reaching about 6,000 of the urban political and professional elite. Officials say this is the most effective way to use their limited resources, but critics say it is preaching to the converted. The Soviets, on the other hand, travel to the most remote regions to participate in local festivals, and their visiting academics join in seminars organized by Indian scholars.