Resistance International: Soviet dissidents, US conservatives, and Cold War ‘anti-communist internationalism’, 1983-93

In 1983 a group of East European dissidents convened Resistance International (RI); a one-of-a-kind Cold War organisation designed to wage a global struggle against communism. Later, in 1984, a US branch of the group was formed with wealthy anti-communist conservative backers. Historians have begun to highlight the complexity of the partnership between East European dissidents and US anti-communists. This article conducts the first detailed study of RI and provides a new opportunity to study how dissident-anti-communist cooperation functioned. The article examines how dissidents involved in RI managed their relationship with US-based anti-communists alongside their relationships with the wider dissident community.