Russia invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.  Despite heavy losses and massive destruction, intense fighting continues.  European allies and the United States have supported Ukraine with weapons, intelligence, and sanctions against Russia.  At this time, however, it is unclear whether the Europeans and the United States will continue to support Ukraine at the same level as past years.  The conflict has led to improving relations among Russia, China, and North Korea among others and at the same time growing pressures on the post war international rules-based system.   

We are pleased to welcome back our speaker who is well qualified to address this situation.  A specialist in the history of the Cold War, in twentieth-century U.S. diplomatic and intellectual history and in U.S.-Russian relations. Michael Kimmage was named as the Director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute early this year. Prior to joining the Kennan Institute, Michael Kimmage was a professor of history at the Catholic University of America.  

From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He has been a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and at the German Marshall Fund; and was on the advisory board of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

He publishes widely on international affairs and on U.S. policy toward Russia. His books include Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability, The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy, and The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism. 

Professor Kimmage has also written articles and book reviews for many publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.  His recent article “What Trump Wants: American Power in the New Age of Nationalism” appears in the March/ April issue of Foreign Affairs and will be quite relevant to the discussion.   Professor Kimmage has been a visiting professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and at Vilnius University in Lithuania.  Professor Kimmage has a PhD from Harvard University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Oxford and Oberlin College.