Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025 • Jeff Caplan : Contact

The University of Texas at Arlington will host Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, as the next guest in its Maverick Speakers Series. The event, the first of the 2025-26 season, is set for Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Texas Hall.

The discussion will be moderated by Brian Whitmore, assistant professor of practice at UT Arlington’s Charles T. McDowell Center for Global Studies. Topics will include great power relations, democracy and development, as well as the recent escalation in the Ukraine conflict.

McFaul, a Rhodes Scholar and bestselling author of From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, brings a wealth of expertise on U.S.-Russia relations, international diplomacy and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. He served five years in the Obama administration as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council before his appointment as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.

McFaul currently serves as the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, director and 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, which he joined as faculty in 1995. He is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post and international affairs analyst for NBC News.

McFaul holds a B.A. in international relations and Slavic languages and an M.A. in soviet and eastern European studies from Stanford University and earned his D.Phil. in international relations from Oxford University. He has authored multiple influential books on U.S.-Russia relations and democracy, including Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We Should, How We Can and Power and Purpose: American Policy toward Russia After the Cold War. His latest book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, will be released on Oct. 28. His research focuses on American foreign policy, great power relations, and the intersection of democracy and development.

This is event is open to the public. Tickets are $5 for general admission, with free access for UTA students, faculty and staff. More information and tickets are available at uta.edu/maverick-speakers.

About the Maverick Speakers Series:

UTA’s Maverick Speakers Series brings distinguished national and international figures to campus for thought-provoking conversations on global issues. The series engages the UTA community and the public, offering opportunities to hear directly from leaders shaping world affairs.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2025, The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.