Michael McFaul

This past May I had the opportunity to hear former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul speak about his experience in Russia and the current relationship between the US and Russia. My Global Scholar peers and I also had a chance to do a short Q and A with him before the official interview/dinner, but we were cut a little short due to LA traffic. I found Ambassador McFaul's experiences in Russia very fascinating but quite terrifying, and I was surprised by the certainty with which he told us that we (the US) know for a fact that Russia played a role in the presidential election. However, his answer to many of the questions asked by the audience and President of LAWAC Terry McCarthy was "it's in my book." Yes, he was on a book tour and keen on advertising it. He wrote a book on Russia/US relations called From Cold War to Hot Peace (now I'm advertising it too) in which he discusses many of the current questions most Americans have about US interactions with Russia. While I understand that we saw him speak during a book tour, I wish he could have given some longer, more straightforward answers. But then again, the questions we are dealing with are hardly straightforward. All in all, it was terrific to see someone so qualified speak about a country that I still don't know much about, and I'm excited to grow my knowledge on Russian relations as I continue with Global Scholars.