CNAS Scholars Comment on Ukraine Crisis

Four experts at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) offer analysis and commentary on a range of issues relating to the crisis in Ukraine. Below are links to each expert's biography as well as recent posts on the topic.

Richard Fontaine is the president of CNAS and previously served as the foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain for more than five years.

U.S. Should Resist, Reinforce and Reassure in Face of Ukraine Crisis

“At issue is not just the future of Ukraine but also the trajectory of European security and norms against the use of force to seize territory.”  

Julie Smith is a senior fellow and director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at CNAS and formerly served as the Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States.

Transatlantic Unity Crucial But Thin on Ukraine

“A failure for the transatlantic partners to craft a joint response would be tragic. It would give Putin the upper hand, send all the wrong messages to skittish allies in Central and Eastern Europe and raise troubling questions about the fundamental strength of the transatlantic partnership at a time when joint initiatives are sorely needed.”

Dr. Dafna H. Rand is the deputy director of studies and the inaugural Leon E. Panetta fellow at CNAS. Her research focuses on Middle East security and U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. Conflict Prevention in the Age of Maidan Politics

“The dizzying speed with which domestic protests in Kiev devolved into a great powers confrontation underscores that any effort to draw a firewall between international geopolitics and domestic dynamics within states is inherently unstable.”

Elbridge Colby is a fellow at CNAS where he focuses on strategic, deterrence, nuclear weapons, conventional force, intelligence and related issues. In 2012, he served as the deputy head for national security personnel on the Mitt Romney pre-transition effort and also worked on several of the campaign’s security policy teams.

The Return of History in Eastern Europe

“Our government and intellectual leaders might well find it uncomfortable and distasteful, but they need to get into the dirty business of power politics and of thinking and acting strategically.”

Please contact Liz Fontaine for all media inquiries at [email protected] or 202.457.9423; or JaRel Clay at [email protected] or 202.457.9410.