doi:10.7916/9g8k-cz47Oral history interview with Deana Arsenian, 2017Arsenian, Deana, 1958-oral historiestextExecutivesRussia (Federation) Study and teachingSoviet Union Study and teachingRussia (Federation) Relations United StatesUnited States Relations Russia (Federation)Arsenian, Deana, 1958-Shulman, Marshall DarrowHarriman InstituteDeana Arsenian discusses her memories of working as Marshall Shulman's administrative assistant in the 1980s. She notes that Shulman lamented the lack of deep understanding of the Soviet Union among policymakers and the broader public, a problem he thought could only be addressed by long-term investments in training Russia experts. Arsenian then discusses American efforts to engage with the new Russia following the collapse of the USSR; she feels generally positive about these efforts, but acknowledges significant structural impediments to their success. Arsenian notes that training area scholars is a long-term venture aimed at producing experts who have granular knowledge. She discusses the need to train people to craft realistic and likely scenarios in US-Russia relations