In the last few years under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has deployed its military in both Georgia and Ukraine, and, for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, President Putin has sent military forces outside former Soviet states. At the same time, U.S.-Russian relations have hit an all-time low, with each describing the other as an “existential threat” to their respective states. Professor Stoner, who will have just returned from Russia, will discuss why this tension has emerged and whether Russia is now in a position of strength or weakness.

 Dr. Stoner is a specialist in Russian domestic and international affairs. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, she was on the faculty of Princeton University for nine years, jointly appointed to the Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School for International and Public Affairs. In addition to many articles and book chapters on contemporary Russia, she is the author of two books: Resisting the State: Reform and Retrenchment in Post-Soviet Russia and Local Heroes: The Political Economy of Russian Regional Governance. She is currently writing a third book, Resurrecting Russia: Vladimir Putin’s Imperial Dreams.

 Kathryn Stoner is a Senior Fellow and Core Faculty, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. She is also Faculty Director, Susan Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University.

 The talk will be from 1300 to 1400 at the Rancho Cañada Golf Club on Carmel Valley Road in Carmel. If you would like just to listen to the lecture (audit), there is no charge, and no reservations are required.  Auditors should be seated by 1240.  Lunch will be served before the talk begins. The entree is baked salmon, and there is a vegetarian option. If you would like to have lunch at noon, the cost is $25 per person for World Affairs Council members and NPS students (a special rate for students) and $35 for others.  For lunch reservations, please fill out the attached reservation form and send it in by the deadline of Monday, February 15.

 The WACMB is also currently offering the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program at Monterey Peninsula College and California State University, Monterey Bay. This eight-week program is free to the public, but it requires purchase of a Briefing Book that details each of the eight subjects covered. At MPC the schedule is as follows: February 1, The Middle East Alliances; February 8, The Rise of ISIS; February 22, The Future of Kurdistan; February 29, Migration; March 7, The Koreas; March 14, The United Nations; March 21, Climate Change; and March 28, Cuba and the United States. At CSUMB, the same topics are in the same order on January 25; February 8 and 22; March 7 and 21; and April 4, 18, and 25. The sessions at MPC are 1600 to 1730 in Room 101, Social Sciences Building. The CSUMB meetings are in two sessions each day at 1400 to 1530 and 1600 to 1730 in the OLLI Office at 6^th Avenue and Inter-Garrison Road.

 If you have questions or would like more information, please either send me a note or see the World Affairs Council website: http://www.wacmb.org/WACMB/Upcoming-WACMB-Programs.html.   

 David L. Anderson