Tuesdays at 10 is a new men’s association in Rye, focused on catering to men ages 55+ in Rye who are retired or transitioning to retirement. Each month the group organizes a speaker program. MyRye.com will introduce you to each speaker, preview what attendees might hear and tell you about their connection to Rye and the group.
Today, we meet US-Russian foreign relations professional Tom Graham.
Your name: Tom Graham
When are you speaking at Tuesdays at 10am?
Graham: November 11 at 10:00am, at the Whitby Castle – 330 Boston Post Road [see the details on the MyRye.com event calendar].
What’s your day job?
Graham: Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where I focus on US-Russian relations, Russian and Eurasian affairs, and European security.
Summarize your career in five sentences or less.
Graham: I have been working professionally on US-Russian relations for the past forty years. I served twice at our Embassy in Moscow in the late Soviet period and in the mid-1990s. I was senior director for Russia on the National Security Council staff during the George W. Bush administration. I worked for 12 years as a manager director for Kissinger Associates, an international business consulting firm led by the former Secretary of State. I have been with the Council on Foreign Relations since 2019.
Give us the gist of your Tuesdays at 10 talk.
Graham: I will discuss the state of the Russia-Ukraine war, including the diplomatic effort to settle it. I will lay out what I believe US interests are and what the administration needs to do to advance them as the President seeks to get Russia and Ukraine to agree to an enduring ceasefire.
Who invited you to speak with the group?
Graham: Peter Urbanczyk asked me to be a speaker. I have spoken to similar groups in Darien and Greenwich in the past several months.
Who is the most interesting speaker you have enjoyed?
Graham: Wolfgang Leonhard, a Yale professor. I found his lectures on Soviet affairs both informative and entertaining when I was a student at Yale from 1969-1972. He was a former East German communist party bureaucrat with a wealth of stories about how the system actually worked.
Tell us about you:
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Graham: Ironic
Best professional advice you dispense.
Graham: Don’t bring your boss or colleagues a problem unless you can also bring a solution.
Best personal advice you dispense.
Never move to a place because it is close to a place where you want to be. Move to where you want to be.
Where do you live?
Graham: I live on the upper east side in New York City.
What do you do with your free time?
Graham: I enjoy running alone and gardening with my wife. I also enjoy reading, especially works of history.
Thank you Tom!
To learn more about Tom, connect with him on LinkedIn.
