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The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S.–Russia Diplomacy

The Ambassadorial Series is a one-of-a-kind docuseries featuring in-depth interviews with former U.S. ambassadors to Russia and the Soviet Union. The Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies (MIR) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey presents "The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S.-Russia Diplomacy." This sequel to the Ambassadorial Series consists of six-plus hours of conversations with Ambassadors Jack F. Matlock, Thomas R. Pickering, and James F. Collins about crucial events and developments in U.S.-Russia relations. Focusing on the 1990s – from the disintegration of the USSR to President Putin's ascent to Russia’s highest office a decade later – the sequel, hosted by Dr. Hanna Notte, continues to offer firsthand accounts and analyses of the cataclysmic changes that transformed Russian politics and society.

Watch the first set of interviews between Jill Dougherty and eight former U.S. ambassadors to the Russian Federation/USSR here.

In The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S.-Russia Diplomacy, Ambassadors Matlock, Pickering and Collins share their personal experience in dealing with the challenges in the U.S.-Russia relationship during the 1990s as the top diplomatic representatives of the United States to the Soviet Union and then Russia. They analyze Russian domestic upheavals as well as regional and international developments that would come to haunt the relations between the two countries. The ambassadors reflect on the pivotal events of this decade: the first Gulf War, unrest in the Balkans, Russia’s relationship with its new neighbors, nuclear arms control, and discussions of NATO expansion, among other issues. The Ambassadorial Series serves as a tool to deepen understanding of the vicissitudes of bilateral relations and provide additional primary accounts of the important junctures in U.S.-Russia relations. The interviews are released as videos, podcasts, and transcripts.  
   
The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S. - Russia Diplomacy is hosted by Dr. Hanna Notte, senior research associate at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP). It is comprised of interviews with:  

  • Ambassador Jack F. Matlock (1987-1991)  
  • Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering (1993-1996)  
  • Ambassador James F. Collins (1997-2001)  

Financial support for the Ambassadorial Series is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Ambassadorial Series is dedicated to the late Dr. Vartan Gregorian, twelfth president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Please visit the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies webpage for videos, transcripts and podcasts.