With tensions between Russia and the United States rising in Syria, the Ukraine and elsewhere, Jack Matlock, former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, and Aldona Wos, former U.S. ambassador to Estonia, will hold a discussion on "Putin vs. Obama: Are we in a Second Cold War?" at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, in 04 Sanford School.
The session will be moderated by Professor Peter Feaver.
Matlock, a Duke alumnus who is teaching two courses this semester as a Rubenstein fellow, had a front-row seat for the last days of the Cold War. As ambassador to the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia and national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, Matlock was deeply involved in several key moments of US-Soviet relations.
He was part of the 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev negotiations in Iceland that ultimately led to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. He has donated his collection of letters, diaries, photographs, audio recordings, meeting notes and other files from his years in the foreign service to the Rubenstein Library.
Wos is a physician who was the US Ambassador to Estonia from 2004 until early December 2006. A native of Warsaw, Poland, Wos served her term with an emphasis on building Estonian democracy and leadership. The Estonian government decorated her for her efforts.
She also served as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services under Gov. Pat McCrory.
The event is sponsoed by the American Grand Strategy Program. The Department of Political Science and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies are co-sponsors.