Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the coauthor (with Michael Beckley) of Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China and the author of The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today. Access Bonus... Continue Reading →
Serhii Plokhy on the Russo-Ukrainian War
Serhii Plokhy is a Professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and the Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He’s written many books including The Gates of Europe, Nuclear Folly, and Atoms to Ashes. His most recent book is The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation... Continue Reading →
Anne Applebaum on Autocracy, Inc
Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. Some of her books include Gulag: A History, Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine, and most recently Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. She recently gave the Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture titled "Autocracy, Inc." Access Bonus Episodes... Continue Reading →
Violence Against Civilians: The Wagner Group, Brutality and Exploitation of Africa
By Akinyetun, Tope Shola The incidence of violence in Africa has exponentially increased over the last decade. There has been an increase in violent extremist attacks, terrorism, insurgency, farmer-herder crises, identity conflicts, climate-induced violence, and banditry – inter alia – resulting in the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of property. Data from... Continue Reading →
James Goldgeier on NATO, its Enlargement, and its Future
James Goldgeier is a a Professor of International Relations at American University. He is also a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center on International Security and Cooperation and a Visiting Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. Recently, he is the coeditor with Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson of a... Continue Reading →
Steven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in Iraq
Steven served on the National Security Council staff from 1994 to 1999 and again fro 2011 to 2012. Earlier he served in the State Department for fifteen years. He is currently a Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies and his most recent book is Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall... Continue Reading →
The Invasion of Ukraine and the Geopolitics of Energy
By David Bernell As the war in Ukraine goes on, with Ukraine’s army thus far stopping the Russian push at Bakhmut, and a Ukrainian offensive expected as more (and more lethal) weaponry is being supplied by members of NATO, one of the issues that held greater salience earlier in the war continues to play a... Continue Reading →
Was NATO Expansion a Response to Russian Aggression?
By Justin Kempf NATO Expansion was a Response to Russian Aggression At the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization consisted of 16 member states. Over the past thirty years it has grown to 30. After Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden applied for membership. Their inclusion will double NATO... Continue Reading →
Ukraine: A Boon or Bust for U.S. Power? It’s Complicated
By C. William Walldorf, Jr. A Boon or A Bust? Is the war in Ukraine a boon or bust for U.S. power? Despite Ukraine’s remarkable success, NATO’s increased unity, and Russia’s poor military performance, the answer to that question is more complicated than some might think. Especially in a war’s early stages, assessing the impact... Continue Reading →
The Use of Terrorism Designation in the U.S. Foreign Policy
By Cagil Albayrak A Powerful Tool The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has raised important questions about the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy when it comes to defending Eurasian peace and security through sanctions. One of the most controversial proposals has been to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. There has also... Continue Reading →