Macron's comments on strategic autonomy and Europe's role on Taiwan have sparked criticism amongst transatlantic partners. While the Biden administration and some European Union officials have downplayed the comments, questions remain over whether Macron's views reflect larger European attitudes on the future of the transatlantic partnership. 

Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a historian and political scientist, with expertise in German and European foreign and security policy, European security, transatlantic relations, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Tara Varma is a visiting fellow in the Center for the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. She focuses on French defense and security policy in the European framework, as well as ongoing efforts to materialize European sovereignty.

Following the release of the book, Evaluating NATO Enlargement: From Cold War Victory to the Russia-Ukraine War, we are discussing NATO enlargement from a historical perspective. The editors, Joshua Shifrinson and James Goldgeier, join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to evaluate the impacts of post-Cold War NATO enlargement on Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Josh Shifrinson is an associate professor for the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland. He is an expert on contemporary international security as it relates to great power politics, U.S. foreign policy, and diplomatic history.

James Goldgeier is a professor for the School of International Service at American University. He is a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s center on International Security and Cooperation as well as a visiting fellow for the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

As Russia has become increasingly isolated on the international stage following its invasion of Ukraine last February, it has sought to deepen its ties with remaining partners such as China. While Beijing has so far provided only limited support to Moscow over the past year, reports that it may be considering sending lethal aid to bolster the Russian war effort suggest a potential inflection point in the relationship.

This special edition of Brussels Sprouts includes a recording of a live CNAS event from Wednesday, March 29th. The discussion features a panel of experts to discuss the deepening relationship between Russia and China.

Yusuke Anami is a professor of Modern Chinese Political History and Contemporary Chinese Politics at Tohoku University.

Bonnie Glaser is the managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund.

Dmitry Gorenburg is a senior research scientist of Russia studies at the Center for Naval Analyses.

Richard Weitz is the senior fellow and director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute.

What do the visits to the White House by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mean for the transatlantic partnership? Max Bergmann and David Kleimann join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the issues facing the transatlantic partnership today.

Max Bergmann is the director of the Europe Program and the Stuart Center in Euro-Atlantic and Northern European Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

David Kleimann is a visiting fellow at Bruegel, where he focuses on the climate and trade policy nexus as well as legal and diplomatic challenges arising from transatlantic and international climate and trade cooperation.

How should we assess the state of democracy around the world today? Larry Diamond and Sheri Berman join Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, and Carisa Nietsche to discuss the signs of democratic revitalization across the globe.

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

Sheri Berman is a professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. Her research interests include European history and politics; the development of democracy; populism and fascism; and the history of the left.

As we pass the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine, numerous factors such as the Russian military’s poor performance, Putin’s botched mobilization, mounting casualties, economic challenges resulting from sanctions and export controls, and increasingly visible elite fissures are raising questions about the political stability of the Russian regime.

This special edition of Brussels Sprouts includes a recording of a live CNAS event from Thursday, March 2nd. We dive into all of this and more during a conversation with a group of the leading scholars on Putin and authoritarianism. This conversation builds on our recently released Russian stability tracker, which you can find on the CNAS website.

Dr. Timothy Frye is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Policy at Columbia University, where he researches comparative politics and the political economy focusing on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Dr. Marlene Laruelle is the Director for the Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and the Illiberalism Studies Program at The George Washington University. She studies the rise of populist and illiberal movements in post-Soviet Eurasia, Europe, and the United States.

Dr. Brian Taylor is the Director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs as well as a professor of political science at Syracuse University. His research focuses on the development of the Russian state, with particular interest in its use of state coercive organizations.

Dr. Daniel Treisman is a professor of political science at UCLA as well as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He studies Russian politics and economics, focusing on democratization, political decentralization, and corruption.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the reality is setting in that we are facing a drawn out and protracted conflict. Both the United States and Europe are grappling with this reality, and it is likely that Russia is grappling with this reality as well. This special edition of Brussels Sprouts includes a recording of a live CNAS event from Wednesday, February 22nd. The first half of the discussion will feature a panel looking at the battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, including what we should expect and what Ukraine requires to restore its borders and its sovereignty. A second panel will then dive into the nature of ongoing Western support, including views from Europe and the United States.

Jeff Edmonds is a Research Scientist with the Center for Naval Analyses’ (CNA) Russia Studies Program and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at CNAS. His research focuses on the Russian military, foreign policy, Russian threat perceptions, and Russian information and cyber operations.

Rob Lee is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program. He is a former Marine infantry officer, and is currently completing his PhD on Russian defense policy at King’s College London’s War Studies Department.

Shashank Joshi is The Economist‘s defense editor. Prior to joining The Economist, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Research Associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Programme.

Steve Biegun is the Weiser International Policymaker in Residence with the Weiser Diplomacy Center at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He has over two decades of high-level government experience, most recently serving as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State.

Kadri Liik is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research focuses on Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Baltic region.

Dr. Claudia Major is head of the International Security Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin (SWP). Her research and publications focus on security and defense policy in Europe in a transatlantic context.

Over the past year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated NATO, with the presence of major war on the European continent highlighting the alliance’s importance for collective defense. While NATO is not directly involved in the conflict, it has assumed a leading role in both coordinating aid to Ukraine and strengthening Europe’s deterrence posture. Benedetta Berti and David Cattler join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss how NATO is confronting this fundamentally altered security environment.

Benedetta Berti is the Head of Policy Planning in the office of the Secretary General of NATO. She is a foreign policy and security researcher, analyst, consultant, author, and lecturer.

David Cattler is NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary General he was a senior national and defense intelligence official of the United States.

To continue our “New Year” series on Brussels Sprouts, we turn to the state of transatlantic relations going into 2023. The past year has demanded extensive coordination between the United States and Europe in responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, acting as a stress test for the strength of the transatlantic relationship. So far, unity has largely held, though Germany’s recent hesitation to send tanks to Ukraine and persistent tensions in the economic domain continue to challenge the relationship. Wolfgang Ischinger and Sophia Besch join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Carisa Nietsche to discuss these recent developments in transatlantic relations from a German perspective.

Wolfgang Ischinger is the former chairman of the Munich Security Conference. He also previously served in the German government as State Secretary and Ambassador to the United States.

Sophia Besch is a fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her area of expertise is European defense policy.

Over the past year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred Europe to devote greater attention to its defense capabilities. Yet rather than providing momentum to Europe’s stated ambitions of strategic autonomy, the war has instead seemed to underscore its continued dependence on the US and NATO for defense. In this seemingly paradoxical moment, what future may lie in store for European strategic autonomy? Liana Fix, Tara Varma, and Justyna Gotkowska join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss how Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw view the outlook for European strategic autonomy.

Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a historian and political scientist, with expertise in German and European foreign and security policy, European security, transatlantic relations, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Justyna Gotkowska is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Eastern Studies based in Warsaw, Poland. Her work focuses on security and defense issues in Northern and Central Europe, including defense policies and armed forces’ developments in Germany as well as in the Nordic and Baltic states.

Tara Varma is a visiting fellow in the Center for the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. She focuses on current French defense and security proposals in the European framework, as well as ongoing efforts to materialize European sovereignty in health, economics, climate, energy, and more traditional security fields.