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Ambassador Talk • Russia and the Biden Administration: Diplomatic and Security Challenges and the Near Abroad
April 20, 2021 @ 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Amb. John Tefft, former U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine, will address Russia’s near abroad policy and the implications of Russia’s increased military and diplomatic power on the international stage.
Amb. Deborah McCarthy, senior fellow at Harvard University and member of the board of directors at the American Academy of Diplomacy, and Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, vice provost for global affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill, will provide introductory remarks.
After his expert talk, Ambassador Tefft will be joined by Bob Jenkins, teaching associate professor within the Department of Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Christiane Lemke, professor of political science and director of International Relations and European Studies in the Institute of Political Science at Leibniz University Hannover and visiting scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center for European Studies, for a panel discussion on how the new Biden Administration should engage with Russia on key issues including NATO, Ukraine, Syria, sanctions and internal Russian dissent and opposition.
Advance registration for this event is required.
John F. Tefft is a retired United States diplomat. He was a career Foreign Service Officer for more than 45 years, completing his service as the United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2014 to 2017. Tefft earlier served as the United States Ambassador to Lithuania from 2000 to 2003, Ambassador to Georgia from 2005 to 2009, and Ambassador to Ukraine from 2009 to 2013. He worked from 2004 to 2005 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs responsible for U.S. relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Tefft originally retired from the Foreign Service in September 2013 and served as Executive Director of the RAND Corporation’s Business Leaders Forum from October 2013 to August 2014 until his recall to duty and confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation from September 2014 to September 2017. Tefft is currently a Senior Fellow at the RAND Corporation.
The lecture is part of a partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill and the American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD), which includes collaboration on the production of The General and the Ambassador, a well-recognized podcast series hosted and produced by Ambassador Deborah McCarthy that focuses on how senior U.S. military leaders partner with senior U.S. ambassadors on national security challenges overseas.
This event is organized by the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs; the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies; and the Center for European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.