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Rethinking the Soviet Union’s Withdrawal from the WHO in 1949

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2024, 81(3), pp.339-367
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.81.3.202408.339
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : July 17, 2024
  • Accepted : August 7, 2024
  • Published : August 31, 2024

Kyung Deok Roh 1

1서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to elucidate the historical context surrounding the Soviet Union’s decision to withdraw from the WHO. Previous scholarship has predominantly highlighted the influence of the Cold War, during which Moscow and Washington were frequently at odds over various issues. This study contends that the Soviet withdrawal was more intricately linked to its domestic social and political conditions than to the international Cold War context. The year 1949 represented a peak period when Soviet politicians’ preoccupation with secrecy, coupled with heightened patriotic sentiment among Soviet citizens following the KR affair, profoundly impacted the political and social landscape. Soviet policymakers, such as Zhdanov and Stalin, exhibited heightened sensitivity to the potential exfiltration of their academic and medical knowledge, as well as the potential infiltration of Western academia on their intellectuals. To those political leaders, the WHO was increasingly perceived as an arena where both threats could materialize.

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