Origins of the War with Thomas Wright

Where should we look for the origins of Russia’s war against Ukraine?

Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution joins Michael Kimmage for Origins of the War to examine the conflict through two interconnected lines of inquiry: the European context preceding the war and the evolution of U.S.-Russian relations.

Wright discusses the changing European security environment, the role of NATO, and the evolution of American strategy as tensions between Russia and the West intensified. The conversation also places these developments within a broader geopolitical landscape shaped by great power competition, U.S.-China relations, and questions about American and European cooperation.

Together, Wright and Kimmage consider how these different strands of international politics intersected on the road to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and what they reveal about the challenges facing U.S. foreign policy and European security today.

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