December 17 – Michael McFaul with Larry Diamond

Michael 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 from 2012 to 2014. He is Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, where he serves as Director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.