Vancouver, Canada—The theme of UPF’s September 30th monthly meeting was "Russia: Present and Future." This was the first meeting after the summer break. All in attendance were happy to see each other. The meeting was full to capacity.
After presenting a short video of current events in Russia, Dr. Youri Pankratz presented an in-depth survey of the Russian geopolitical position, its culture and prospects for the future. He said we should be thinking now about what direction Russia will go in a post Putin environment.
Dr. Pankratz, who grew up in Russia and served in the military as a parachutist, is a professor of linguistics at Simon Fraser University and a founding Ambassador for Peace of UPF-Vancouver. Among his many accomplishments, he founded the Children of Chernobyl organization.
The question-and-answer session afterwards was comprehensive and lively. This is a vast topic, and we will likely need another session to do it justice.