Brussels Sprouts

Center for a New American Security | CNAS
Brussels Sprouts

Small bites on Transatlantic Security, NATO, the EU, Russia, and all things Europe. Hosted by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend at the Center for a New American Security.

  1. 4. OKT.

    Exploiting Russian Weakness: Moldova and Georgia at a Crossroads

    Later this month, both Moldova and Georgia will hold crucial elections with the potential to profoundly shape their futures. As Russia attempts to reassert dominance along its periphery amid its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin’s actions have triggered different geopolitical reorientations in different countries across the region. Moldova and Georgia illustrate this two-directional trend—while the Georgian government has signaled more alignment with Russia, Moldova is strengthening its ties with the West. However, these shifts may not be final, and the elections this October could either cement or reverse their current trajectories. Given these stakes, Russia has already taken steps to interfere in these elections, and could employ additional coercive tactics threatening stability along NATO’s eastern border in the future. Yet this moment also presents an opportunity for the United States and European Union— while the war in Ukraine continues, the transatlantic partners can take advantage of Russia’s present weakness to rid the region of corrosive Russian influence and more firmly anchor Moldova and Georgia in the good governance, democracy, and economic prosperity that are cornerstones of the Euro- Atlantic space.   Laura Thornton is the senior director of global democracy programs at the McCain Institute. Prior to this, she served as senior vice president of democracy at the German Marshal Fund (GMF), and oversaw GMF’s transatlantic trusts.   Denis Cenusa is the European Integration Program Director at the Moldovan think tank, Expert-Grup and a lecturer at the University of Giessen.   Read the new report! Exploiting Russian Weakness: Leaning in to Support the Pro-Western Orientation of Moldova and Georgia

    58 min.
  2. 20. SEP.

    The Origins of Elected Strongmen: How Personalist Parties Destroy Democracy from Within

    This week, CNAS hosted the book launch for The Origins of Elected Strongmen: How Personalist Parties Destroy Democracy from Within, a new book by Dr. Joseph Wright, Dr. Erica Frantz, and Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor. Moderated by Susan Glasser, this event discusses how democracies around the world are being weakened by the actions and efforts of their elected leaders, and how the rise of personalism in democratic politics has become the key culprit for democracy’s ills. Even in democratic systems, leaders are taking on outsized influence relative to the parties that support them to dismantle institutional checks on the executive, deepen political polarization, and weaken supporters’ commitment to democratic norms of behavior leading to democratic backsliding and collapse.     Susan Glasser is a Staff Writer at The New Yorker, where she writes a weekly column on life in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, she served as the founding editor of POLITICO Magazine, the editor of POLITICO, and the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy.   Erica Frantz is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Michigan State University, where she focuses on authoritarian politics and the security and policy implications of autocratic rule.   Joseph Wright is a Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University. There, he examines how international factors influence autocratic rule and democratization.

    1 t.

Om

Small bites on Transatlantic Security, NATO, the EU, Russia, and all things Europe. Hosted by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend at the Center for a New American Security.

Log ind for at lytte til episoder med anstødeligt indhold.

Følg med i denne serie

Log ind, eller tilmeld dig for at følge serier, gemme episoder og få de seneste opdateringer.

Vælg et land eller område

Afrika, Mellemøsten og Indien

Asien/Stillehavsområdet

Europa

Latinamerika og Caribien

USA og Canada