Intellectual architect of Brezhnev-era détente
"The war taught me how to live… Everything that was experienced over these last six army years must become the foundation for an interesting, creative, and beautiful life." — From his frontline diary, published posthumously.
Soviet international relations scholar and historian. He served as director of IMEMO, the USSR's premier foreign-policy think tank, from 1966 until his death in 1982. His institute produced the classified analyses that shaped Soviet arms-control negotiating positions, long-range forecasts of Western economies, and the theoretical underpinnings of 'developed socialism' in foreign affairs. A full member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1981, he directly shaped the substance of Soviet détente policy, consistently arguing within the party leadership for the necessity of constructive relations with the West.
Career Timeline
- 1952–1957Consultant, International Department, Kommunist journal
- 1957–1959Head of International Relations Sector, IMEMO
- 1959–1961Deputy Director, IMEMO
- 1961–1966Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Pravda
- 1966–1982Director, IMEMO
- 1971–1981Candidate Member, CPSU Central Committee
- 1981–1982Member, CPSU Central Committee
- 1975–1982Member, Presidium, USSR Academy of Sciences
Related historical events
The Frontline Diary: An Intellectual's War
Inozemtsev served in the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1945, earning four combat decorations (two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st and 2nd Class) as well as medals for the capture of Königsberg and victory over Germany. He joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) at the front in 1943. Shortly after the war he began writing a diary of his wartime experience, which remained unpublished during his lifetime. Thirteen years after his death, it appeared in 1995 as The Price of Victory in That Very War and was reissued in an expanded edition as Frontline Diary in 2005. The work stands as a significant document of a Soviet intellectual's inner experience of the war, juxtaposing the brutality of the front with a persistent will toward 'an interesting, creative, and beautiful life.' Aleksandr Yakovlev, in his preface to the first edition, called the diary 'a precious testimony conveying the truth of the war.'