Students, faculty and community members filled Stewart Theatere as well as the first and second levels of Talley Student Center to hear former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley speak on the United States’ relationship with Russia in light of the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Bradley was the first speaker of the school year for the Millennium Seminars Series, a program that North Carolina First Lady and Executive in Residence Mary Easley started.

“I had the opportunity to speak to him one day,” Easley said, “and I always have N.C. State and the Millennium Seminars on my mind. I immediately asked him to come and speak.”

Bradley had no reservations against lecturing, Easley said.

“He didn’t pause for too long before he said yes, and we just kept talking until we could come up with a date that worked,” she said.

In his speech, Bradley said he had several experiences involving the former Soviet Union.

“I was a child of the Cold War,” he said. “The prospect of nuclear annihilation was always on the back of my mind.”

In the 1964 Olympics, Bradley was captain of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, which was paired against the Soviet Union in the final match.

“After one of the guys elbowed me, I said ‘hey, watch it buddy’ in Russian,” he said. “Before that, they were calling out their plays to each other. After I yelled at him though, they thought I knew Russian and they stopped talking. I’m pretty sure that’s how we won the match.”

After several anecdotes about his past, Bradley took on a more serious tone, discussing points in history where he believes the future relationship between the U.S. and Russia became more complicated.

“The U.S. put up a radar system in Poland and we claimed that it was established to watch Iran, but the system covers 50 percent of Russia,” Bradley said. “We could never give them a good reason why.”

Later in the seminar, Bradley addressed questions from the audience. One audience member asked Bradley’s opinion on what message the next president should send to Russia.

“The next president has to show respect, maybe by calling an early meeting,” Bradley said. “Flexibility on the radar system in Poland is something else the president should work on. The president also needs to begin a real strategic dialogue on Islamic terrorism.”

Catherine Chernova, a doctoral student in economics and a Russian national, said she enjoyed Bradley’s speech.

“He discussed a lot of major points about the relationship between America and Russia, and what he thinks we should do about it,” Chernova said. “He said we all need to be willing to work together, which is a statement I agree with.”

Several community members, including Sue Oxley, said Bradley brought up several issues in his speech that need to be worked on.

“He clearly laid out several places in history where U.S. foreign policy messed up,” Oxley said.

Oxley, who said she has been a fan of Bradley since before he ran for president, said his speech was easy to follow, despite bringing up complicated issues.

“He gave a very concise and thorough history of recent politics, and of the history of America’s relationship with Russia,” Oxley said.

The next Millennium Seminar will be Oct. 13 at 6 p.m., and will feature NCAA President Myles Brand.