Office of the Historian

46. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Lance)1

Washington, February 5, 1977

SUBJECT

  • Broadcasting to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

I tried to reach you by phone today, but you took the President at his word regarding family life!

I hope we can talk urgently about the following item: I feel very strongly that one of the cheapest ways that we can preserve the peace and enhance our political objectives is to try to produce internal evolution in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It is much cheaper than piling up armaments. Precisely because of that, I feel very strongly that there should be no reductions in the plans for the RFE–RL transmitters. If anything, their activity should be stepped up and in the longer run we might save billions.

[Page 164]

I will call you about this on Monday,2 but I would like you to have this.

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Subject Chron File, Box 65, Brzezinski, Chron: 2/5–10/77. No classification marking; Urgent. Printed from an uninitialed copy.↩
  2. February 7.↩