A foreign policy expert on Russia will speak to the New Canaan Men’s Club Friday in remarks titled: “Getting Russia Right – Why Russia Became an Adversary and How to Deal with It.”
The speaker, Thomas Graham,, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will discuss the current state of U.S. and Russian relations, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Graham is also a cofounder of the Russian, East European and Eurasian studies program at Yale University.
Aside from his position at Yale, Graham was special assistant and senior director for Russia on the National Security Council staff from 2004 to 2007 during which time he managed a U.S.-Russia strategic dialogue. He served as director of Russian affairs on the staff from 2002 to 2004. He served as an advisor to Kissinger Associates from 2008 to 2021 and was a foreign service officer for fourteen years, including two tours of duty at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in the late Soviet period and the mid-1990’s.
As he sees it, US-Russian relations are at their lowest point since the darkest days of the Cold War, a situation that is continuing to deteriorate. He believes the task for the United States is to develop what might be called a “relationship of constructive competition”
The Men’s Club meeting at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is set to begin at 10 a.m. Dr. Graham’s presentation is expected to take place around 10:40 a.m.
He holds a B.A. in Russian studies from Yale University and an M.A. in history and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.
The Men’s Club has openings for new members, men 55-years old and above. For membership information, email ncmens@ncmens.info.