Tom Brokaw Hosts USD Forum with Russian Policy Expert Robert Legvold Oct 18
Sponsored by the USD Department of Political Science, the event entitled “The New Cold War: The United States, Russia and a World of Differences,” will showcase a moderated conversation between Brokaw and Legvold as they discuss the United States’ relationship with Russia.
“Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election is just the latest turn in an increasingly hostile U.S.-Russia relationship,” said David C. Earnest, Ph.D., professor and chair of the USD Department of Political Science. “It’s time to ask whether we are experiencing a new Cold War.”
In addition to the public forum, Brokaw and Legvold will meet with USD students earlier in the day for private small group discussions.
“Tom and Bob are among the most distinguished alumni of USD,” Earnest said. “Their return to campus, and their engagement with our students, builds upon the University’s commitment to educating tomorrow’s civic leaders.”
Brokaw, a native of Yankton, South Dakota, is a 1964 graduate of USD. As anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News" for 21 years, Brokaw received numerous honors, including the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award, the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and he was inducted as a fellow into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His insight, ability and integrity have earned him a dozen Emmys and two Peabody and duPont awards for his journalistic achievements. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from USD awarded in 1980.
Robert H. Legvold is one of the country’s foremost experts in Soviet Union and Russian policy and has published numerous articles and books on the subject. He is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, specializing in the international relations of post-Soviet states. He served as a director of Columbia’s Harriman Institute and also as a director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace-sponsored Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative from 2009-2012. He is a member of various advisory boards, including those of the Committee on International Security Studies of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, the Center for Global Politics at the Freie Universität Berlin, and the Foundation for International Peace and Democracy, led by Mikhail Gorbachev. He is a 1962 graduate of USD, and was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws in 1989.
