World Class

Ruth Gibson is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Department of Health Policy and an affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Her research focuses on volatile regions affected by war and sanctions. She also works with the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights on the use of unilateral sanctions.

If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars at the Fr...

Arzan Tarapore is a research scholar at the Center in International Security and Cooperation at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. His work focuses on Indian military strategy and regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Prior to his scholarly career, he served for 13 years in the Australian Defence Department in various analytic, management, and liaison positions, including operatio...

Jim Goldgeier is a research affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He is also a professor at the School of International Service at American University. He writes extensively on European security, NATO, Russia, and Ukraine.

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Didi Kuo is a Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University. She is a scholar of comparative politics with a focus on democratization, corruption and clientelism, political parties and institutions, and political reform.

Her latest book, The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don’t, is available from Oxford University Press and most major book seller...

Steven Pifer is an affiliate with the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and at The Europe Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where his research focuses on nuclear arms control, Ukraine, Russia and European security.. In addition to working in the Foreign Service for more than 25 years, Pifer served as a U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000. He is a non-r...

Oriana Skylar Mastro is a Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where her research focuses on Chinese military and security policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, war termination, and coercive diplomacy. She is also a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She also serves in the United States Air...

Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian politician, author, historian, and former political prisoner. A close colleague of the slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he has served as deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian Parliament. Leading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the opposition, Kara-Murza played a key role in the adoption of Magnitsky sanctions against top Russian officials by the United...

Audra Plepytė was appointed as Lithuania’s Ambassador to the United States of America and to the United Mexican States in 2021. Before this she was a Lithuanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations where she facilitated several negotiations, led the Group of Friends, and was elected to executive bodies of UN instruments and institutions, including being elected as the President of the Executive Board of the United Nations...

This audio was originally recorded on October 26, 2024 during the event, “Global Threats Today: What's At Stake and What We Can Do About It,” held during Stanford University's annual Reunion and Homecoming weekend in affiliation with the Stanford Alumni Association.

Featuring:

Michael McFaul, Director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of Interna...

Susan E. Rice served as domestic policy advisor to President Joe Biden. Previously, she was President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a member of the Cabinet. During the Clinton Administration, Rice was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, as well as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, and Director for Inte...

Kristjan Prikk has served as Estonia´s  Ambassador to the United States since May 2021. This is his third diplomatic posting to Washington, D.C. Before assuming his current duties, Prikk served for nearly three years as the Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense. In this role he was responsible for the management of the Ministry and for the coordination of activities of the agencies under the Ministry, including th...

Josep Borrell serves as the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He previously served as President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2019. He is an alumnus of Stanford University (M.S. '75) with a degree in applied mathematics (operations research).

Michael McFaul is the ...

Matviichuk originally delivered this speech at the 2024 S.T. Lee Lecture hosted by the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University.

Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights lawyer focused on issues within Ukraine and the OSCE region. She is the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, which was a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The organization supports legislative reforms, monitors law enfo...

Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University and a visiting professor in the department of political science. In addition, Dr. Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.

Michael McFaul is the host of World Class and director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where he is also...

Michael McFaul is joined by:

Oleksiy Honcharuk, who served as the 17th prime minister of Ukraine from 2019-2020, during which time he introduced important policy initiatives in Ukraine including the institution of business privatization processes, efforts to combat black markets, and the launch of the Anti-Raider Office to respond to cases of illegal property seizures. Prior to serving as prime minister, Honcharuk was deputy head of...