Stopping a Second Cold War: an Evening with Ambassador Jack F. Matlock, Jr. ’52GSAS, ’52SIPA, ’13GSAS
With the recent annexation of Crimea, Russo-American relations have deteriorated to a new low point since the optimism and celebration that accompanied the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet the confrontation we observe today has been a long time in the making, due to a series of missteps, mistakes and miscalculations over the last 20 years on both sides of the Atlantic. How can we restore a productive partnership between Moscow and Washington? What events led us here and what steps will lead us away from the precipice?
As the last Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack F. Matlock, Jr. played a leading role in guiding US policy through the fall of the Soviet Union and was present at the creation of the post-Cold War order. Please join us for an evening of his thoughts and comments on whether a Second Cold War can be forestalled.
Ambassador Jack F. Matlock, Jr. served his nation proudly over 35 years in the Foreign Service, including postings as Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987-1991, Ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1981-1983, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of European and Soviet Affairs from 1983-1986 and Director of Soviet Affairs in the State Department from 1971-1974, as well as postings in Vienna, Accra, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. He has held teaching positions at Princeton University, Columbia University, Hamilton College and Mount Holyoke College.
He is the author of Superpower Illusions (Yale University Press, 2010); Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended (Random House, 2004, paperback edition 2005); Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador’s Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union (Random House, 1995); and a handbook to the thirteen-volume Russian edition of Stalin’s Collected Works (Washington, D.C. 1955, 2nd edition, New York, 1971).
Ambassador Matlock received his AB from Duke University summa cum laude and his PhD from Columbia University.
Wine Reception: 6:00pm
Lecture: 6:30pm
Cost: Free for members; $25 for guests
Host: Zach Goldstein
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