Experts in the News | Miller Center

Joe Biden, War President

Eric and Eliot host Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute. They discuss civil-military relations, Joe Biden as a war President, the struggle over foreign policy in the GOP, and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the trajectory of U.S. national security policy. All three endorse a trillion dollar defense budget.

Eric Edelman

Taking the fork in the road: China's Ukraine dilemma

Yogi Berra’s famous line about seizing the non-choice is an apt description for China’s reaction thus far to Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. On the one hand, China abstained from the UN vote condemning the invasion, on the other, China’s foreign minister reiterated the longstanding foreign policy commitment to respect sovereignty in his conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart. There are mixed opinions among the Chinese public about the invasion, but the government has deeper reasons for kicking the fork down the road. The last thing China wants is a new Cold War.

Brantly Womack

A less obvious cause of the Ukraine invasion

Among the underappreciated causes of the Ukraine War are European and American environmental politics. Green energy policies of the past two decades have significantly increased the military security risks the international system faces. As we see today in Ukraine, energy inter-dependence of European states with Russia greatly limits the Europeans’ and Americans’ ability to counter military aggression. The greatest and gravest error seems to be the elimination of nuclear energy as a central source of electric power generation in Germany.

Allan C. Stam

How Russia's attack on Ukraine threatens democracy everywhere

UVA Today checked in with John M. Owen, the Taylor Professor of Politics, to gain perspective and context on the larger struggles around democracy that Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine symbolizes. Owen also is a senior fellow at the Miller Center and a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

John M. Owen IV

Risks of the war in Ukraine

Once countries, soldiers, and citizens begin shooting one another, many so-called "known unknowns" become resolved in unexpected ways. In the Ukraine War, two of the most important initial uncertainties were the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the leadership abilities of President Zelensky. Many in Europe and the United States resolved this uncertainty by assuming the Ukrainians would quickly capitulate, as they had in 2014 when Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

Allan C. Stam

How the West should respond to Putin's war in Ukraine

Eric Edelman discusses the brave Ukrainian resistance, Putin’s initial difficulties, and how the West is responding to the war.

Eric Edelman