Europe

An excerpt from an interview with Fran Ulmer, Senior Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, explains what we might expect from the transition to Norwegian leadership, as well as possible paths forward for the Arctic Council and Arctic governance more broadly. The interview was conducted by Belfer Center Communications and Outreach Specialist Elizabeth Hanlon. 

Nathaniel L. Moir argues that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 evokes a failure to learn the many lessons Bernard Fall sought to convey in critiquing American operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and as France sought to control Indochina in the 1950s. Among his contributions was Fall's demand that policy-makers recognize the primacy of political legitimacy over military force. 

Russia’s brutal invasion of a sovereign democratic country in February shocked the world. Moscow’s forces have targeted civilians across Ukraine, while Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to unleash weapons of mass destruction. 

The Belfer Center is not a passive observer of this war. Our community of diplomats, national security analysts, intelligence officials, and generals, along with nuclear, energy, and cyber experts have been working non-stop to advance policy-relevant insights. 

Mariana Budjeryn, a Research Associate with the Center's Project on Managing the Atom, is a Ukrainian citizen. She grew up in Lviv, Ukraine, and was there visiting family days before the Russian invasion began. In this video, recorded on May 4, she shares her thoughts and feelings about the war and how her family and friends in Ukraine are doing and thinking about their critical situation.

The Arctic region is changing rapidly, and the speed of ongoing change makes adaptation extremely challenging. Governments, indigenous peoples, local communities, researchers, and businesses must work together to build resilience to the social-ecological changes that are underway. With that goal in mind, the Arctic Initiative this fall helped launch the Arctic Resilience Forum—a highly successful 10-week international online forum. 

A common element in Erika Manouselis’s life is bridges. At the United Nations, she helped Brazil’s Mission strengthen its relationships across distance and difference. At a law firm afterward, she helped immigrants reconnect with loved ones. As the Project Coordinator for the Belfer Center’s Future of Diplomacy Project and Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, she works to connect policymakers, practitioners, and scholars with students from around the world. And most every day (in the current remote work era) Erika walks across some of the most iconic bridges in Manhattan. It’s a fitting pastime for someone who’s passionate about foreign policy and bringing people together.

We asked Fredrik Logevall, author of JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century (Random House, 2020), why he decided to write a biography of John F. Kennedy, what surprised him in his research, and whether he thinks Kennedy would have won the 2020 presidential election.

In this issue, we highlight five new books by Belfer Center members.

On January 31, the long-awaited or long-feared Brexit took place: The United Kingdom left the European Union. What does Brexit mean to the UK, EU, and the rest of the world? Brexit experts from the Belfer Center’s Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and Future of Diplomacy Project shared their thoughts on this major event. Read their remarks below.

What causes individuals to become radicalized, and to perpetrate acts of violence against other people and countries? To answer this question, Anina Schwarzenbach is trying to research the potential links between violent extremism, discrimination, and state legitimacy.