A trip to the Soviet Union in 1985 changed Michael McFaul’s life, and on Oct. 2, he told Trinity students why the lessons from that journey matter now more than ever. Trinity invited McFaul to deliver a lecture to guests at the Ruth Taylor Fine Arts Center’s Stieren Theater and speak to students about the themes in his new book, “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.”
McFaul, a long-time advocate for the cause of global democratization, framed the current geopolitical landscape as a definitive struggle between democracy and autocracy, though his message carried cautious optimism.
McFaul’s visit began at 4 p.m. in the Sid W. Richardson Communications Center, where he fielded questions from students on everything from his diplomatic approach to Russia in the aftermath of former President Dmitry Medvedev’s rule to the efficacy of sanctions on American adversaries.
He grounded his policy experience in his personal connection with Russia, recounting how witnessing the daily injustices that came with communism sparked his evolution into an advocate for democracy. In an interview with the Trinitonian, he outlined his view of the world’s geopolitical landscape.
“I believe we are involved in a long-term struggle with China in the lead, and Russia as its sidekick, between autocracies and democracies,” McFaul said. “That’s what my book is about. I’m pretty confident I’d prefer to be on the side of the democrats rather than the autocrats. I think we have several advantages.”
That evening, he detailed those advantages to a crowd of students and members of the broader Trinity community. He pointed to the U.S.’s own formidable economic standing and stated that nine out of the ten largest economies in the world are democracies. He described the U.S. university system as the best in the world, which he called a “superpower.”
Central to that advantage, he said, was how the U.S. approached research during the Cold War. In his interview with the Trinitonian, McFaul highlighted the successes of research at U.S. universities as something to be emulated from the Cold War era. He described the Soviet research and university system as “divorced” compared to U.S. institutions, which he said made the U.S. better at innovation.
“One of the things we did coming out of World War II was we fused research and development with our university campuses,” McFaul said. “Lots of government money came to research universities to do basic research that then spawned these technological innovations … Without the infrastructure of research that came from the government, we would have never had Google.”
Despite his optimistic disposition, McFaul acknowledged setbacks to the furtherance of democracy at home and abroad. At the lecture, he spoke to the crowd about isolationist tendencies within both the Democratic and Republican parties, and told them that he believes political polarization within the U.S. weakens its ability to compete with its adversaries. He also pointed to the global trend of weakened democracy worldwide beginning in 1991.
“What I worry about right now are two things: One, the cuts of research and development … that I think will have long-term consequences to sustaining this advantage we have over the Chinese,” McFaul said to the Trinitonian. “The other one I would say that I worry a lot about is immigration, and this debate about the HB-1 visa.”
Jay Salter, senior political science major and emcee for the student event, said McFaul’s visit changed the way he thought about foreign policy abroad and democracy at home.
“I think it was really interesting how he promoted that idea of dual-track diplomacy. That was one of my big takeaways,” Salter said. “It’s important to deal with all the foreign leaders, but it’s also important to deal with people on the ground, like opposition, human rights leaders, religious leaders, people more involved in the community than the politicians are.”
For students like Thomas Melina Raab, senior communication and history double-major, McFaul’s expertise on modern Russia crystallized meaningful geopolitical understandings.
“I don’t really know how many people know that it’s basically an imperialist war to annex Ukraine,” Melina Raab said. “I think especially knowing that kind of belief he [Vladimir Putin] has… [it’s] very nationalist.”
When asked what advice he’d give to students pursuing careers in international affairs, McFaul offered three directives.
“Learn a language. Study abroad. Figure out how to use AI,” McFaul told the Trinitonian. “I was actually very popular in Russia. I was the sixth highest ranked blogger in the country, mostly in Russia. Putin didn’t like that. But I could do that because I spoke Russian.”
At the Stieren Theater that night, McFaul ended his lecture by declaring that although the future is long, “it bends towards justice.” As he thanked the crowd, he was met with applause.
*McFaul’s latest book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, releases Oct. 28, 2025.
