Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts Live with Jens Stoltenberg and Julianne Smith

In this special episode marking the podcast’s 5-year anniversary, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend for a conversation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing response to the war from NATO allies, lessons learned from the conflict, and the future of the alliance.
Jens Stoltenberg became NATO Secretary General in October 2014, following a distinguished international and domestic career. As a former Prime Minister of Norway and UN Special Envoy, Mr. Stoltenberg has been a strong supporter of greater global and transatlantic cooperation. Mr. Stoltenberg’s mandate as NATO Secretary General has been extended until the end of September 2023.
Ambassador Julianne Smith assumed her position as the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO in November 2021. Prior to her current position, she served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Blinken at the Department of State. Previously, she served as the Director of the Asia and Geopolitics Programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States

Did the TTC Deliver with Fran Burwell and Tyson Barker

On May 30-31, the fourth ministerial meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council was held in Luleå, Sweden. All eyes were on this meeting, after previous ministerials failed to produce concrete results due to fissures in transatlantic industrial policy. Items on the agenda for Luleå included artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and new initiatives for green transitions. To discuss the key takeaways from this latest TTC meeting, Fran Burwell and Tyson Barker join Carisa Nietsche and Jim Townsend in the latest episode of Brussels Sprouts.
Frances G. Burwell is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and a senior director at McLarty Associates.
Tyson Barker is a senior advisor for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. He previously served as the head of the Technology and Global Affairs program at the German Council on Foreign Relations

The Trajectory of the War in Ukraine

The trajectory of the war in Ukraine hinges on the outcome of the widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Recent events spell trouble for Russia as Pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters launched attacks on Russian soil in Belgorod this week and the United States promised to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. With battlefield developments shifting daily, the future of the war in Ukraine remains uncertain. To discuss how all of this impacts the Ukrainian war effort, we are pleased to welcome Gustav Gressel to the podcast.
Gustav Gressel is a senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. His topics of focus include Russia, Eastern Europe, and defense policy.

What Does the Future Hold for Turkey?

Turkey’s presidential election is headed to a second round after no candidate won an outright majority on May 14. Ahead of the rematch between current President Erdoğan and opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on May 28, many observers are wondering what the results could mean for the future of Turkish democracy, society, and foreign policy. Steven Cook and Aslı Aydıntaşbaş join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on this episode of Brussels Sprouts to discuss the implications of the Turkish presidential race.
Steven Cook is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Aslı Aydıntaşbaş is a visiting fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, as well as a Global Opinions columnist at The Washington Post and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The Road to Vilnius with Alexander Vershbow and Ian Brzezinski

In July, NATO will host its annual summit in Vilnius to discuss the path forward for the European security architecture. NATO Allies have provided critical support to Kyiv ahead of its much-anticipated counteroffensive. However, there are increased calls for more decisive action by NATO. Alexander Vershbow and Ian Brzezinski join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss their latest Atlantic Council memo laying out new recommendations for NATO’s defense and deterrence posture.
 
Alexander Vershbow is a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and Eurasia Center. He previously served as the deputy secretary general of NATO, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and US ambassador to Russia.
 
Ian Brzezinski is a resident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and is a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group. He has more than two decades of experience in US national security matters, having served in senior policy positions in both the US Department of Defense and the US Congres

The Coming Ukrainian Counteroffensive with Michael Kofman

While transatlantic partners remain supportive of Ukraine, there are questions about the success of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Many Western leaders harbor doubts about how a protracted war could impact the future of transatlantic support of Ukraine. In this context, how will the Ukrainian counteroffensive shape the future trajectory both of the battlefield and transatlantic unity? Michael Kofman joins Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss all of this and more.
 
Michael Kofman is the Research Program Director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses and an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Macron’s Vision for Europe and Its Implications on Transatlantic Unity

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.

Post-Cold War NATO Enlargement and Its Implications Today

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.

Russia-China Relations One Year after the Invasion of Ukraine, with Bonnie Glaser, Dmitry Gorenburg, Richard Weitz, Yusuke Anami

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.

The Future of the Transatlantic Partnership, with Max Bergmann and David Kleimann

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.