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Contact: Ranjit Arab, University Relations, (785) 864-8855.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Last U.S. ambassador to Soviet Union to hold press conference at KU today

WHO & WHAT: Jack F. Matlock Jr., the last U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991, will hold a press conference at the University of Kansas.

WHEN & WHERE: 3:30 p.m. today in the Pine Room, sixth floor of the Kansas Union.

DETAILS: Matlock, who now serves as the George F. Kennan Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., recently wrote a 20-page article that gives his insights into last month's terrorist attacks and the subsequent war on terrorism. The article outlines how U.S. diplomatic, intelligence and defense structures have remained in a "Cold War mode," focusing resources on activities that are no longer relevant rather than adapting to new threats.

Copies of the paper will be available to reporters at the press conference.

Along with witnessing the Soviet Union's demise, Matlock served in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during the height of the war between the USSR and Afghanistan. Matlock previously served as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for European and Soviet affairs

Matlock will deliver the lecture, "America and Russia in Today's World," at 7:30 p.m. in the Big 12 Room, fifth floor of the Kansas Union. The lecture is part of a series of events organized by the Center for Russian and East European Studies to mark the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union.