Obama Will Nominate Stanford Professor to be Next Ambassador to Russia

President Barack Obama will nominate Stanford professor Michael McFaul as the next U.S. ambassador to Russia, according to the New York Times.

McFaul, 47, is the senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs on the White House’s national security staff. He’s also been on the Stanford faculty since the mid-1990s and received his bachelor of arts degree in International Relations and Slavic Languages in 1986.

Considered to be one of the strongest U.S. voices on Russia, McFaul first traveled to the Soviet Union in 1983, living there on several occasions over the next decade. He’s fluent in Russian and has taught Stanford courses such as the Political Economy of Post-Communism, Revolutions, American Efforts at Promoting Democracy Abroad and Regime Change.

He’s also the author or editor of more than 20 books on Russia, which helped foment his reputation as an advocate of Russian democracy and naysayer of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s crackdown on governmental dissent. Already as Obama's top Russian foreign policy adviser, he has advised the president on an agreement to open Russian airspace, allowing American military supplies to travel through Russia to Afghanistan for the first time.

If the Senate confirms McFaul to succeed its departing ambassador, career diplomat John Beyrle, he’s predicted by many to warm U.S.-Russia relations.

The international edition of Russia’s RIA Novosky wrote that the appointment could boost trust between the U.S. and Russia, because of McFaul’s expertise involving Russia and problems of national security. If his new appointment is approved by Senate, he could help resolve the problem of the ballistic missile shield in Europe, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment and Russia’s accession into the World Trade Organization.