Senior Writer
Willis Sparks
Senior Writer
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
Apr 13, 2018
Yesterday (April 12) was “Yuri Gagarin Day,” a commemoration of the moment in 1961 when Gagarin (whose monument is pictured above) became the first human being to reach outer space. (See “Hard Numbers” below for some great stats.) Much can be said of Russia’s tortured history, but let’s remember that in less than 45 years, Russia went from a broken country that fought World War I barefoot to core of an empire that put the first man in orbit.
As Washington and Moscow trade threats over Syria and sanctions this week, take a moment to remember when US-Russian competition, at least in the area of manned space exploration, produced giant leaps for mankind.
