In the years since the end of the Second World War American interest in Russia has steadily grown, and Russian studies in the United States have expanded at a rapid rate. In 1956, as the first decade of postwar development in this field drew to a close, a number of those concerned with Russian studies became convinced that a review of the record and a new look at the goals to be sought in the study of Russia would be beneficial. A general assessment of Russian studies in the United States was therefore made by the Joint Committee on Slavic Studies, a body of scholars engaged in research and teaching relating to Russia and Eastern Europe appointed jointly by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council.