Brussels Sprouts

Nordic Defense Policy and Arctic Security, with Janne Kuusela and Svein Efjestad

Svein Efjestad and Janne Kuusela join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss Nordic defense policy, Arctic security, and more.
Janne Kuusela has served as the Deputy Director General for Defense Policy at the Ministry of Defense of Finland since January 2016, where he also performs the duty of Defense Policy Director. Svein Efjestad became Policy Director at the Norwegian Ministry of Defense in 2013. He is also currently chairing the Coast Guard Council, where he represents Norway at the Political Steering Committee of the Nordic Defense Cooperation.

NATO, China, and Russia: A Balancing Act? with Sara Bjerg Moller and Ian Brzezinski

Sara Bjerg Moller and Ian Brzezinski join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the future of NATO and its ability to balance security challenges from both China and Russia.
Sara Bjerg Moller is an Assistant Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, where she directs the International Security specialization. Ian Brzezinski is a resident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and is on the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group.

Russia’s Military Buildup on the Ukrainian Border, with Maxim Samorukov and Michael Kofman

What is motivating Russia's recent military buildup on the Ukrainian border? On April 6, 2021, Maxim Samorukov and Michael Kofman joined Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss Russian military activity on Ukraine’s border, the international community’s response, and more.
Mike Kofman is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses' Russia Studies Program, a Fellow at the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, as well as an adjunct senior fellow on the Transatlantic Security program at the Center for a New American Security. Maxim Samorukov is a fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center and deputy editor of the Center’s website.

Technology Policy in the Transatlantic Alliance, with Frances Burwell and Tyson Barker

Frances Burwell and Tyson Barker join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Carisa Nietsche to discuss transatlantic technology policy, the EU’s Digital Compass, and where the U.S. and European tech policies diverge.
Frances (Fran) Burwell is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and a senior adviser at McLarty Associates, and Tyson Barker leads the Technology and Global Affairs Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Russian Foreign Policy, with Amb. Gaston Stronck, Amb. Mikko Hautala, and Amb. Jean-Arthur Régibeau

Ambassadors Gaston Stronck, Mikko Hautala, and Jean-Arthur Régibeau join Andrea Kendall to discuss Russian foreign policy and the state of Russia-Europe relations. H.E. Gaston Stronck became Ambassador of Luxembourg to the United States in September 2019. He has a longstanding diplomatic and professional career spanning four decades, and previously served as Secretary general at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg from 2017 to 2019. H.E. Mikko Hautala became Ambassador of Finland to the United States in September 2020. He is a career diplomat, and previously served as Ambassador of Finland to Russia from 2016-2020. H.E. Jean-Arthur Régibeau became Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States in September 2020. He joined the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 and previously served as the Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, and Uzbekistan.

Europe–Russia Relations Today, with Kadri Liik and Dmitri Trenin

Kadri Liik and Dmitri Trenin join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the current state of Europe-Russia relations and how the United States should approach Russia during the Biden presidency.
Liik is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Trenin is the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, where he also chairs the research council and the Foreign and Security Policy Program.

Debating American Democracy Promotion, with Emma Ashford and Thomas Wright

Emma Ashford and Thomas Wright join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Carisa Nietsche to discuss the future of America's democracy promotion efforts abroad and what the U.S. government can do to preserve American democracy at home.
Emma Ashford is a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, where her work focuses on questions of grand strategy, international security, and the future of U.S. foreign policy. Thomas Wright is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution.

German Foreign and Security Policy after Merkel, with Constanze Stelzenmüller and Sam Denney

Constanze Stelzenmüller and Sam Denney join Carisa Nietsche and Jim Townsend to discuss German foreign and security policy, upcoming German elections, and what might change after Chancellor Angela Merkel steps down.
Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Transatlantic Relations in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings.
Sam Denney is a Senior Research Assistant in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings.

Vaccine Nationalism and the European Union, with Sarah Wheaton

Sarah Wheaton joins Carisa Nietsche and Jim Townsend to discuss vaccine nationalism in the EU, the ongoing vaccine rollout, and what both mean for the future of European integration and transatlantic relations. Sarah Wheaton is the chief policy correspondent for Politico Europe. In this role, she focusses on top policy news, in-depth reporting, and special projects in collaboration with Politico’s policy-reporting teams. Prior to this, she served as a senior policy reporter on Politico Europe’s health team, and before moving to Brussels. Sarah was a White House correspondent for Politico in the United States. She spent much of her career at the New York Times, where she reported on breaking news on the 2008 and 2012 campaign in print and online.

Pro-Navalny Protests and the Future of Putin’s Russia, with Joshua Yaffa

Joshua Yaffa joins Carisa Nietsche to discuss recent protests across Russia, Alexei Navalny, the future of Vladimir Putin’s regime, and U.S.-Russia relations. Yaffa is a Moscow correspondent for the New Yorker, and the author of Between Two Fires: Trust, Ambition and Compromise in Putin’s Russia. He has also written for the Economist, the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Bloomberg Business Week, the New Republic, and Foreign Affairs. For his work in Russia, he has been named a fellow at New America, a recipient of the American Academy’s Berlin prize, and a finalist for the Livingston Award.