A docuseries produced by Corporation grantee the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies features in-depth interviews with former U.S. ambassadors to Russia and the Soviet Union
As bilateral tensions in U.S.-Russia relations continue to increase, an in-depth video series by the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute offers nuanced analyses of crucial aspects of the U.S.-Russia relationship with profiles of all but one of the living U.S. ambassadors to Russia and the Soviet Union.
Created with Corporation support, the Ambassadorial Series features personal, in-depth interviews that provide firsthand accounts of the challenges involved in working with the U.S. and Russia. Among the topics discussed: nuclear, cyber, and economic cooperation; the impact of sanctions; how social media and other technology changed their ability to communicate with the Russian people; and the early years of President Vladimir Putin.
“As the highest political representatives of one nation to another, ambassadors are critical players in making, interpreting, and explaining foreign policy decisions,” states Deana Arsenian, vice president of Carnegie Corporation’s International program, in a press release for the series. “Their perspectives on the past moments of dangers and opportunities offer lessons learned for the future of this consequential relationship.”
Videos in part one of the series are hosted by Jill Dougherty, former CNN Moscow bureau chief, and feature Jack F. Matlock, Thomas R. Pickering, James F. Collins, Alexander Vershbow, John Beyrle, Michael McFaul, John F. Tefft, and Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Videos in part two of the series are hosted by Hanna Notte, senior research associate at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, and include additional conversations with Matlock, Pickering, and Collins about crucial events and developments in U.S.-Russia relations, focusing on the 1990s – from the disintegration of the USSR to President Putin’s ascent to Russia’s highest office a decade later.
The series can be viewed on the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies’ website and on YouTube.
The Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies is a Corporation grantee based at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, created for graduate students seeking to obtain the knowledge and skills to succeed as specialists in Russian and Eurasian studies.
Top: (Credit: Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies)
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