Chair for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State

'86 » Ph.D. in History, Yale » Adjunct Professor, American University » Chair for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State

Although my foremost task is to run & design area study courses (on Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, & Central Asia) that prepare foreign service officers for their assignments in the region, my knowledge & love of history enable me to put a lot of fast-paced changes in an appropriate context. I stress that to my students constantly, & make history an integral part of our area studies. My students — both foreign-service officers & other federal/military personnel — are by the nature of their jobs most interested in current events. But it is very satisfying to see how sometimes incomprehensible trends and decisions, when put in historical & cultural perspective, start making sense to them. In that sense, knowledge of history remains a very valuable tool in international studies & foreign policy.