Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed crosshairs on Ukraine, a country he sees as linked to Russia and the people of Ukraine as “one people” with Russians. To back up this fixation with repairing a “historic injustice” Moscow has amassed a force of over 100,000 troops and supporting armor and aircraft along the border with Ukraine. Leading the West’s response, President Biden has threatened “massive consequences” if Russia invades Ukraine. American and Russian diplomats are meeting this week. However, the lines are drawn: Putin is demanding an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, to include Ukraine, and Biden and the West say there will be a very high economic price to pay as well as increased deployments on NATO’s eastern flank. What is the context for this provocation and what are the U.S. and Allies prepared to do? On January 17, the American Council on Germany and the Tennessee World Affairs Council for a discussion with Ambassador John Kornblum about the crisis. He also discussed how we got to where we are and what the possible courses of action for the U.S. and Europe might be. The conversation was led by Dr. Thomas Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. This event is held in cooperation with the Belmont University Center for International Business and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
