The Americans: when "international relations are only an allegory of human relations"

Today I have chosen to talk about the series that some of you might know and that is called “The Americans”. The story begins in the early 80's, right after the election of Reagan. The two main characters are a fake couple who pretend to be normal American citizens, but are actually Soviet agents sent to the United States in order to spy and obtain confidential information that could be useful to the USSR. Even their children aren’t aware of their true identity and of their double life. But the funniest part is that their neighbour turns out to be a FBI officer. And they’re even becoming friends! So I let you imagine how intriguing it all becomes.

You might wonder what it has to do with my studies. Right, the thing is that these series, apart from being really captivating, give us a non-traditional vision of the Cold War, which is somehow linked to what I’m supposed to study, which is to say International Relations. Usually you study the Cold War over and over in classes, and you think you already know everything about it: the different protagonists, the crises, the triumph of an ideology upon an other… Here, we’ve got a totally different approach, an original angle on it. I mean, the series is based on real events. 

It was an idea of Joe Weisberg, a former CIA officer. Joe Weisberg was inspired by his own experience and by the “Illegals program” that existed and it was a network of Russian Secret agents living in America under non official cover. Unsurprisingly, people often forget to mention this aspect of the Cold War – which is to say the spies - that was crucial for both sides. In fact, these undercover agents were those who determined the evolution of the conflict between USSR and the United States, as they knew the enemy’s strategy. 

To me, it is also interesting from a psychological point of view. The producer, Joe Weisberg said about the series: “International relations is just an allegory for the human relations”. Indeed, this artificial couple still believes in soviet ideals, and is completely hypnotized by communism while being in the centre of the capitalist world. They are absolutely convinced that their duty, which is kind of morally justified, is to destroy the American system from within, and favour the development of communism around the world. Though, at some point they start to doubt and to be tempted by this model of society – The American Way of life – where material wealth and comfort are way more important than ideology. At the same time, they watch their children grow up in a country that is founded on values they don’t share.

Besides, real issues of the Cold War are raised, such as massive destruction weapons or the War in Afghanistan. Although most of the scenes take place in America, we also get a very clear and objective description of the USSR at that time, we see how people are being treated there. There is obviously a huge contrast between America and this Evil Empire, a country that only works with repression and constant fear.  Some scenes at the Russian Embassy are entirely in Russian.

To sum up, I’d say that the series is about suspicion, betrayal, manipulation and ideology. I really advise it to you all, you’ll surely learn a lot of things, as I did, and have a lot of fun.