Fort Ross Dialogue 2016

2016

Monday, October 17th, 10am – 3:00pm

Fort Ross’ history as a peaceful 19th century settlement provides a positive and symbolic backdrop for shared US-Russia relations, and Fort Ross Conservancy strives to continue that tradition. Fort Ross Conservancy, in partnership with the Kennan Institute and co-hosted by Stanford University’s Preventive Defense Project and the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum, invites you to attend our fifth annual Fort Ross Dialogue, scheduled for Monday, October 17th, 2016 at Stanford University. Fort Ross Dialogue is an independent forum where Americans and Russians meet in a constructive atmosphere to encourage conversation and collaboration.

Fort Ross Dialogue 2016 Program

10am-11am: Opening remarks by thought leaders from academic, business, and diplomatic circles, followed by Q and A.

Sarah Sweedler, Fort Ross Conservancy CEO
California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Video welcome from the Honorable Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States
Governor Yakushev, Governor of the Tyumen region
Mr. Andrew McGrahan, President Chevron Neftegaz and Chairman CPC-R at Chevron
Mr. Mikhail Margelov, Vice President, Transneft
Mr. Nikolay Kolesnikov, Executive Vice President, Sovcomflot
Dr. William Perry, 19th US Secretary of Defense and Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
Michael McFaul, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Oleg Zhiganov, Director of the Russian Cultural Centre in Washington, D.C., First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United States
Mr. Sergey Petrov, Consul General of the Russian Federation

11am-12pm: Innovative ideas for Fostering Collaboration
A fast-paced discussion modeled on a venture capital pitch, where talented Russian and American students convened by the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum jointly propose projects for US-Russian collaboration. Each presentation will be critiqued by a panel of distinguished statesmen and business leaders to encourage questions and discussion with the wider audience.

Moderator: Matt Rojansky, Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute

U.S. – Russia Relations – Where We Stand: Zach Witlin (Stanford and SURF 11-12) and Yuri Barmin (Cambridge/Lobachevsky University and SURF 10-11)
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: David Zokhrabyan (MGIMO/MSU and SURF Co-Founder) and Alyssa Haerle (Stanford and SURF 13-14)
Opportunities in Energy: Aden Adebayo (Skoltech/Kazan Technological University and SURF 15-16) and Eugeniu Han (Pardee RAND and SURF 16-17)
Healthcare Tech: Brittany Holom (Princeton and SURF 14-15).

1pm-2:30pm: Russia Direct panel “U.S.-Russia Exchange programs at a crossroads: How to boost professional, educational, and cultural ties in turbulent times,” with leadership from the media group Russia Direct moderating.
To what extent has U.S.- Russia exchange been effective during the last decade? What different lessons can we learn from the past, from the Soviet-American experience, and from the era of the 1985 Perestroika? What are the achievements of modern day exchanges? What are the failures of past exchanges? How can U.S.-Russia exchange be improved? What new formats and ways of improving exchanges could you propose? Will we see increase in bilateral exchanges and inter-university programs?

Victoria I. Zhuravleva, Professor of American History and International Relations, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow
Dan E. Davidson, President of American Councils for International Education
Anna Vassilieva, Professor at The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California
Kathryn Stoner, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Director of the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies, Stanford University.
Anton Fedyashin, Director of the Carmel Institute of Russian Culture and History and Assistant Professor, Department of History at American University, Washington, D.C.
Moderator: Pavel Koshkin, Editor-in-Chief of Russia Direct, alumnus of the IREX Global UGRAD exchange program, participant Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum (2011-2012).

Closing Remarks