Persistent Alaskan and Russian “citizen-diplomats” played a crucial role in ending the Cold War in the Bering Strait region in the 1980s, marking the beginning of a 30-year era of significant progress. They established joint businesses and cultural ties, and about a dozen Alaska communities established sister-city agreements with their Russian counterparts. David Ramseur, author of Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier, will examine the heyday of Alaska-Russian relations and the new, growing Cold War between the US and Russia.
Image: David Ramseur in a 2017 visit to Magadan City Hall and a sign which marks Anchorage-Magadan Sister-City relations. He was on a book tour across the Russian Far East. Dmitry Motovilov, photographer. Courtesy of David Ramseur.