Brussels Sprouts

Small bites on Transatlantic Security, NATO, the EU, Russia, and all things Europe. Hosted by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend at the Center for a New American Security.

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Episodes

Friday Jan 05, 2024

As 2023 came to a close, many people began to characterize the war in Ukraine as a stalemate. Though it is true that very little has recently changed along the front lines and that neither side will be able to make a breakthrough, this label is misleading. Indeed, as 2024 takes hold both Moscow and Kyiv are working to rebuild their offensive capacity. Developments this year regarding both sides’ access to munitions, capacity to train fighters, and the extent of casualties in the war will be critical in shaping the conflict’s long-term trajectory. As such, 2024 is likely to be a decisive year for the war in Ukraine. To discuss where things stand and where they could go, Michael Kofman and Shashank Joshi join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this episode of Brussels Sprouts.
Mike Kofman is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on the Russian military and Eurasian security issues.
Shashank Joshi is the Defense Editor at The Economist and a Visiting Fellow at The Department of War Studies at King’s College London

Friday Dec 22, 2023

At last week’s European Council summit, EU heads of state and government agreed to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova as well as to grant candidate status to Georgia. These historic decisions demonstrate the new momentum in the European Union’s enlargement process following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has forced the bloc to think more strategically about integrating its neighbors to the east. But while enlargement may be back on the political agenda, there are many obstacles in its way, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, the need for substantial political reforms in candidate countries, and the need for the European Union to reform its own institutions to be able to welcome new members. As we look towards what is sure to be a long and difficult process, what are the true prospects for enlargement’s success, and what will need to happen before a new set of member states can join the European Union? To discuss all of this and more Veronica Anghel and Engjellushe Morina join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Nick Lokker on this episode of Brussels Sprouts.
Veronica Anghel is a Lecturer at SAIS Europe and a Visiting Fellow in the Robert Schuman Center at the European University Institute.
Engjellushe Morina is a senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Monday Dec 11, 2023

On November 29, former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100. With a long career spanning many decades as both a scholar and a statesman, Kissinger leaves behind a controversial legacy. While many have celebrated his success in resolutely pursuing U.S. global interests, others have denounced Kissinger’s apparent disregard for values such as human rights. To unpack Kissinger’s immense and complicated impact on both the United States and the world, David Sanger and Stephen Sestanovich join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this week’s episode of Brussels Sprouts.
David Sanger is the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times, reporting on President Biden and his administration, with a particular focus on foreign policy and its intersection with technology, politics, and superpower conflict.
Stephen Sestanovich is the George F. Kennan senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of international diplomacy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama, published by Knopf in February 2014.

Friday Nov 24, 2023

As winter approaches and territorial changes along the frontlines in Ukraine continue to be minimal, the realization is setting in that a long war likely lies ahead. To continue to defend itself against Russia’s aggression in the months and years to come, Kyiv will need the full support of its Western backers. Yet continued aid from the United States—Ukraine’s largest provider of weapons by far—is looking increasingly doubtful. To unpack the political reality around Ukraine support in the United States and the likely implications for Kyiv’s war effort, Ivo Daalder joins Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this week’s episode of Brussels Sprouts.
Ivo Daalder is President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. From 2009-2013, he served as the United States’ Ambassador to NATO.

Thursday Nov 16, 2023

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many observers have focused on the consolidation of Western unity in responding to Moscow’s aggression. However, attitudes toward the war differ significantly in many places outside of the United States and Europe. The apparent split between the West and the so-called “Global South” has also attracted increasing attention as non-Western countries such as China, India, and Brazil have taken on a more influential role on the world stage. What explains these differing attitudes, and how can the United States and Europe engage the rest of the world productively on key global issues in the years to come? On this episode of Brussels Sprouts Nathalie Tocci and Timothy Garton Ash join Andrea Kendall- Taylor and Jim Townsend to help us make sense of all of this and more.
Nathalie Tocci is the director of the Italian Institute of International Affairs. In her formal role as Special Advisor to EU High Representatives Federica Mogherini and Josep Borrell, she wrote the European Global Strategy and worked on its implementation.
Timothy Garton Ash is a professor of European Studies at Oxford University. He is the author of eleven books that have charted the transformation of Europe over the last half century.
Nathalie Tocci The Guardian Op-Ed Mentioned in Podcast: Nathalie Tocci, “War in Ukraine is revealing a new global order – and the ‘power south’ is the winner,” The Guardian, September 20, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/20/war-ukraine-new-global-order-power-south-india-china
For more about the report on the Global South mentioned by Timothy Garton Ash in the podcast:Timothy Garton Ash, Ivan Krastev, and Mark Leonard, Living in an à la carte world: What European policymakers should learn from global public opinion (European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2023), https://europeanmoments.com/sites/default/files/2023-11/ECFR-CITRUS-joint-report-nov2023.pdf.

Wednesday Nov 08, 2023

During the past several weeks, a string of attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has highlighted the challenges NATO faces in protecting itself against hybrid threats. After the discovery of damage done to a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, news soon broke that a data cable connecting Estonia and Sweden had also been damaged. While investigations point to a Chinese commercial vessel as the most likely culprit, the difficulty of attributing the incident directly to Beijing illustrates a common problem in defending against grey zone aggression more broadly. On this episode of Brussels Sprouts, Bruce Jones and Elisabeth Braw join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to help us make sense of recent incidents and what they can tell us about future threats posed by hybrid warfare.
Bruce Jones is a Senior Fellow with the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.
Elisabeth Braw is a Senior Associate Fellow at the European Leadership Network and a columnist with Foreign Policy. Her work focuses on deterrence against emerging forms of aggression, such as hybrid and grey zone threats.

Thursday Nov 02, 2023

More than a year and a half after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sustained Western support for Kyiv is as critical as ever. With the future trajectory of the war remaining highly uncertain, continued military aid from both the United States and Europe will be essential in enabling further Ukrainian successes on the battlefield. Yet commitment to such support is not guaranteed. In particular, recent global events have raised concerns about the degree to which European allies will continue to stand behind Kyiv. To discuss how we should be thinking about these various developments and their potential impact on the Russia-Ukraine war, Liana Fix, Tara Varma, and Justyna Gotkowska join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this episode of Brussels Sprouts.
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 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.
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.

Wednesday Oct 18, 2023

Two weekends ago, news broke that Hamas had infiltrated Israeli territory, killing hundreds of civilians while taking many others hostage. In the wake of these attacks, Western leaders offered their support to Israel, condemning the actions of the Palestinian militant organization. However, some in Europe question how far to go, taking issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s unqualified commitment to “Israel’s right to defend itself.” As the crisis now verges toward possible escalation, Europe must grapple with not just the consequences for the region itself but the possible ripple effects on interests farther afield. In particular, Ukraine’s ongoing struggle is likely to be top of mind, with Moscow exploiting the current conflict. To discuss all of this and more, Julien Barnes-Dacey and Hanna Notte join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this week’s episode of Brussels Sprouts.
Julien Barnes-Dacey is the director of the Middle East & North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He works on European policy towards the wider region, with a particular focus on Syria and regional geopolitics.
Hanna Notte is the director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Her work focuses on Russian foreign policy, including Russia’s relations with the “Global South” and the Middle East in particular.

Saturday Oct 14, 2023

Nearly 20 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, questions are beginning to mount about the future of Western aid to Kyiv. In addition to worrying signs of faltering support in Europe, perhaps the most concerning case is in the United States, where turmoil in Congress is stalling the approval of additional military assistance. Molly Reynolds and Max Bergmann join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this episode of Brussels Sprouts to discuss the implications of these recent political developments.
Molly Reynolds is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. She studies the U.S. Congress, with an emphasis on how congressional rules and procedure affect domestic policy outcomes.
Max Bergmann is the director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. From 2011 to 2017, he served in the U.S. Department of State in a number of different positions, including as a member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff.

Friday Oct 06, 2023

On October 15, all eyes will be on Poland as the country holds critical parliamentary elections. The months leading up to this event have seen a fiercely contested campaign, with an opposition bloc, led by the centrist Civic Coalition, attempting to prevent the ruling rightwing coalition, led by the Law and Justice party, from winning a third term in office. While the outcome of the race remains highly uncertain, its potential implications are profound, with some going so far as to claim that the future of Polish democracy itself is on the line. However, the implications of the election are also likely to extend beyond Poland, affecting political dynamics within the European Union and Poland’s broader role on the international stage. On this Episode of Brussels Sprouts Dan Kelemen and Michal Baranowski join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the high stakes of next week’s outcome in Poland.
R. Daniel Kelemen is the McCourt Chair at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. His research interests include the politics and law of the European Union, comparative politics and law, and comparative public policy.
Michal Baranowski is a managing director at the German Marshall Fund, where he provides overall strategic direction and leadership for the organization’s work in Poland, the Baltic states, and the Visegrad 4 countries

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