Past Event Recording Available | Growing Tension on Ukraine’s Border
January 7th, 2022 12:00PM -1:00PM
Russia appears poised to once again use force to rewrite Ukraine’s borders as it amasses troops on Ukraine’s eastern edge, which has seen fighting between the government and Russian-supported separatists since 2014. The military build-up is causing alarm not only in Ukraine but throughout the West. While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Russia against an invasion, it’s not clear what leverage the United States and its allies have. Is Putin just posturing – or is an invasion likely? Join World Affairs Council on January 7 for a virtual discussion on what Russia wants and what the West can do with Jim Goldgeier, visiting fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings institute and formerly the inaugural Library of Congress Chair in U.S.-Russia relations, and Alina Polyakova, President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis.
About our Speakers:
Dr. James Goldgeier is a visiting fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and a professor of international relations at the School of International Service at American University, where he served as dean from 2011-17. In 2018-19, he held the inaugural Library of Congress Chair in U.S.-Russia relations. Previously, he was a professor at George Washington University, where from 2001-05 he directed the Elliott School’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. He also taught at Cornell University, and has held a number of public policy appointments, including director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs on the National Security Council Staff, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Henry A. Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress. In addition, he has held appointments or fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Hoover Institution, and the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation. He is past president of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, and he co-directs the Bridging the Gap project, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and serves as co-editor of the Oxford University Press Bridging the Gap book series.
Goldgeier has authored or co-authored four books, including “Not Whether But When: The U.S. Decision to Enlarge NATO” (Brookings, 1999); “Power and Purpose: U.S. Policy Toward Russia after the Cold War” (Brookings Institution Press, 2003; co-authored with Michael McFaul); and “America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11” (PublicAffairs 2008; co-authored with Derek Chollet). He is the recipient of the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award for first time authors in the field of national security studies and the Georgetown University Lepgold Book Prize in International Relations.
He received his bachelors from Harvard and his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Alina Polyakova is President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) as well as an adjunct professor of European studies at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Dr. Polyakova is a recognized expert on transatlantic relations, European security, Russian foreign policy, digital authoritarianism, and populism in democracies. She is the author of the book, The Dark Side of European Integration, which examines the rise of far-right political movements in Europe, as well as dozens of major reports and articles in outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and The Atlantic, and others. She is a frequent commentator in major media outlets, such as Fox News, CNN, and BBC.
Prior to joining CEPA, Dr. Polyakova was the Founding Director for Global Democracy and Emerging Technology at the Brookings Institution and prior to that served as Director of Research for Europe and Eurasia at the Atlantic Council. She has held numerous prestigious fellowships, including at the National Science Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Fulbright Foundation, among others. She also serves on the board of the Free Russia Foundation and the Institute of Modern Russia.
Dr. Polyakova holds a Ph.D. and MA in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Emory University.