Each registration includes a signed copy of the book. The event will begin at 4:00 PM, with a book signing and reception following the lecture.

The struggle between autocracy and democracy is one of the defining challenges of our time. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul will join the Council to examine the disruptive ambitions of Putin’s Russia, the global rise of China, and how shifts in America’s role on the world stage are reshaping international affairs.

Drawing on his forthcoming book Autocrats vs. Democrats, McFaul will explore why today’s competition among the world’s great powers cannot be understood through the Cold War lens alone. He will consider the growing partnership between China and Russia, China’s economic influence, the rise of populist movements, and recent U.S. shifts away from globalization as defining features of this new geopolitical era.

McFaul will also share his perspective on how America can strengthen democracy at home and lead effectively abroad in navigating this new global order.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Michael McFaul is the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, Director and 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. He is also an international affairs analyst for NBC News.

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). He was also the Distinguished Mingde Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center at Peking University in the summer of 2015.