Michael McFaul

Professor of Political Science, Director, and Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Michael McFaul is a professor of 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 at Stanford University. He is also an analyst for NBC News and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. McFaul served for five years in the Obama administration, first as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council from 2009 to 2012, and then as US ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2012 to 2014. Author of several books, his latest is From Cold War to Hot Peace.