David Ramseur - Melting the Ice Curtain: Alaska-Russian Relations

Weekly luncheons are held every Wednesday at noon. Enjoy great food, dynamic speakers, and exciting networking opportunities. Chamber luncheons are open to the public. Chamber members receive special member-only pricing.

Executive Lunch
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Menu
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, Salad Bar

Speaker
David Ramseur - Visiting Scholar in Public Policy

Bio
David Ramseur moved to Alaska in 1979 where he reported on politics and government in the state and national capitals for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Times. Beginning in 1986 for nearly 30 years, he served as press secretary, communications director, chief of staff, and foreign policy advisor to Alaska Governors Steve Cowper and Tony Knowles and to Anchorage Mayor and U.S. Senator Mark Begich. Ramseur has visited the Soviet Union and Russia more than a dozen times starting with the Alaska Airlines' "Friendship Flight" in 1988, and lived and worked in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in 1993.

Presentation
As Alaskans mark 150 years since the US purchase of Russian-America, a vital part of that history is Alaska’s relationship with its Bering Strait neighbor. After 40 years of a Cold War “Ice Curtain,” Alaskan and Russian citizen diplomats opened the border and launched a 30-year era of perilous yet productive commercial and cultural progress. Longtime Alaskan David Ramseur has documented this era with a new book, Melting the Ice Curtain, a story of how inspiration, courage and persistence can bridge a widening gap in superpower relations. Ramseur will recap that era and discuss current US-Russian relations.