Michael McFaul is the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, 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 and writes a weekly column on global affairs at McFaul’s World on Substack.
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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, where he returned for the summer of 2019, and the spring of 2024.
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McFaul has authored and co-authored several books, including the New York Times bestseller From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, and his newest release, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder (HarperCollins, 2025). His current research interests include great power relations between China, Russia, and the United States, the relationship between democracy and development, and American foreign policy.
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Prof. McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European Studies from Stanford University in 1986. As a Rhodes Scholar, he completed his DPhil. in International Relations at Oxford University in 1991.
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In February, MPSF welcomes Michael McFaul for an evening of expert insight into global affairs and the shifting balance of power on the world stage. Drawing from his experience as a U.S. Ambassador and leading scholar, he brings clarity to complex international dynamics and U.S. foreign policy. As part of the live, in-theater MPSF experience, this conversation will offer timely perspective, thoughtful analysis, and meaningful dialogue.