Romanian Ambassador to the U.S. George Maior is both a diplomat and a scholar, with great expertise in security and intelligence, international law, and political science. His written works and lectures reflect on the turbulent contemporary world and its defense policies.

In this talk, Seattle native Tony Allison discusses his involvement in a jointly owned Soviet-American fishing venture during the Cold War period. Allison served as Director of the Nakhodka and Moscow offices of the Marine Resources Company and then, after the end of the Soviet Union, as CEO from 1990 until its closure in 2001.

Glennys Young is a Professor in the History Department and the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. In this talk, Dr. Young considers the Cold War in relation to Washington State – the effect of the war on the state and their role in it – how residents contributed to efforts

Sarah Chayes, a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy and Rule of Law program, discusses how cultural and technological shifts have fueled corruption — and some explosive reactions to it. She will chart these trends from countries as diverse as Russia, Nigeria and the U.S. Photo by Kaveh Sardari

James Felak is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Washington. In “From the Habsburgs to Hitler and Stalin: How the Trauma of World War One Led Hungary into the Axis & Soviet Empires,” Dr. Felak discusses how the enormous losses of land and Magyar population suffered by the Kingdom of

Robert Bedeski, Affiliate Professor at the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, draws lessons from the life of Genghis Khan that provide insight into how states and societies form. In this lecture, Dr. Bedeski talks about his research and discusses what “The Secret History of the Mongols” can tell us about

The presidency of Donald Trump has vast implications for international affairs and even the internal politics of other countries — it could lead to geopolitical realignments on a global scale. In response, the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington has launched a class on “Trump in the World: International Implications of

During two terrifying days and nights in September 1941, the lives of nearly 2,000 men, women, and children were taken savagely by their neighbors in Kulen Vakuf, a small rural community straddling today’s border between northwest Bosnia and Croatia. The frenzy — in which victims were butchered with farm tools, drowned in rivers, and thrown

Dr. William Craft Brumfield discusses “Architecture at the End of the Earth,” an exhibition of his photographs from the Russian north at the University of Washington. Dr. Brumfield also introduces the William Brumfield Russian Architecture Digital Collection, an online resource available through the UW Library featuring over 29,000 images of Russian sites, mostly buildings constructed

A hundred years after his murder, Rasputin continues to excite the popular imagination as the personification of evil. Numerous biographies, novels, and films recount his mysterious rise to power as Nicholas and Alexandra’s confidant and the guardian of the sickly heir to the Russian throne. But as the prizewinning historian Douglas Smith shows, the true