Ambassador James F. Collins - The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S. - Russia Relations Interview (Part 2)

"But I think what I learned, perhaps it's most significant, I took away lessons that I think are valid all the way through all of my experience, were two or three important things. One, that Russia has its own culture, history, interests, values, and so forth. And they are not Americans. They are different from America. Their experience is different. Their geography is different. They face different issues. They have different aspirations in many ways. And that one has to start with the premise that you respect that." - Ambassador James F. Collins
The Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute introduces The Ambassadorial Series: Deans of U.S. - Russia Diplomacy, Part Two of The Ambassadorial Series. Part Two 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, Part Two, hosted by Dr. Hanna Notte, continues to offer firsthand accounts and analyses of the cataclysmic changes that transformed Russian politics and society.