The perennially popular noontime conversation series Great Decisions returns to Portland State University January 19 - with another round of riveting discussions on the ideas, people, and issues changing the face of the globe. Can't make any of the 8-week series, not a problem - we'll be streaming it live. 

Download the flyer for the series

Russia’s Foreign Policy
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is projecting an autocratic model of governance abroad and working to undermine the influence of liberal democracies, namely along Russia’s historical borderlands. Russia caused an international uproar in 2016, when it interfered in the U.S. presidential contest. But Putin’s foreign policy toolkit includes other instruments, from alliances with autocrats to proxy wars with the U.S. in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. How does Putin conceive of national interests, and why do Russian citizens support him? How should the United States respond to Putin’s foreign policy ambitions?

Speaker: Ambassador Kenneth J. Fairfax, U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan , former Director of Nuclear Materials Security at the US National Security Council