Registration
This event is at capacity. To join the first-come, first-served waitlist, please come to Paepcke Auditorium in person between 4:30–5:30 pm.
Democracy, Diplomacy, and the New World Order
Presented as part of the Hurst Lecture Series.
Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and professor of political science at Stanford University, joins Elliot Gerson, senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, for a conversation about the evolving landscape of international relations. Drawing on his experience as both a diplomat and author of the recent book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America and the New Global Disorder, McFaul examines the state of US relations with rivals China and Russia, the broader geopolitical challenges facing democracies, and the role of diplomacy in an increasingly complex world.
Paepcke Auditorium, doors at 5:00 pm
Parking
Parking is very limited. Please carpool, walk, bike, or ride RFTA.
Book signing will immediately follow the event. To learn more about his book or to order a copy, please click here.
“A history, an analysis, and a set of prescriptions for the greatest geopolitical challenge of our time: the threat to the democratic world posed by China and Russia.” —Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.
“A monumental account of contemporary geopolitics”—Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents
Michael McFaul is the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, all at Stanford University. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1995 and served as FSI Director from 2015 to 2025. He is also an international affairs analyst for MSNOW.
McFaul served for five years in the Obama administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House (2009-2012), and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012-2014). McFaul has authored ten books and edited several others, including, most recently, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, as well as From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, (a New York Times bestseller) Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We Should, How We Can; and Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin.
He is a recipient of numerous awards, including an honorary PhD from Montana State University; the Order for Merits to Lithuania from President Gitanas Nausea of Lithuania; Order of Merit of Third Degree from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford University. In 2015, he was the Distinguished Mingde Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center at Peking University. McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European Studies from Stanford University in 1986. As a Rhodes Scholar, he completed his D. Phil. in International Relations at Oxford University in 1991.
After 22 years at The Aspen Institute, Elliot Gerson retired as Executive Vice President in May. He was then named Senior Fellow. Elliot first headed Seminars, and in 2005, his second year at the Institute, he oversaw the launch of the Aspen Ideas Festival. Then as head of the new Public Programs Department, led a team that developed many other events open to the general public. He subsequently assumed responsibility as well for The Institute’s Policy Programs – – its largest division – – and for The Institute’s relationships with other Aspen Institutes around the world – – which grew from six to now 13.
As Senior Fellow, he focuses on the International Partners. Before Aspen, his career spanned law, state and federal government, and business, as well as non-profits – – especially in the arts – – and for almost 25 years he ran the Rhodes Scholarships competition for the United States. He and his wife Dr. Jessica Herzstein divide their time between Washington DC, Snowmass Village, and La Paz, Mexico.
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