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The Tennessee World Affairs Council

This special event is free but please consider becoming a member or making a donation to TNWAC.org/donate when you register. Thank you.

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The Implications and Consequences of Russia’s War in Ukraine

The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine slogs into a third week and the war criminal in the Kremlin is backed into a corner. Vladimir Putin’s likely hoped for lightning strike into Kyiv to decapitate the Zelensky government and subjugate the country has bogged down amid Russian military incompetence and Ukrainian resolve and heroism. Yet despite the failure of Moscow’s army to snatch its grand prize in short order it is resorting to brute force to move forward, violating the laws regulating conduct of warring parties, jus in bello. Over two million Ukrainians have fled to safety across their western border and civilians are being targeted raising comparisons to Russian brutality in Chechnya and Syria.

The West has shown unity and commitment to Ukraine that would not have been forecast a year ago. The post-Cold War institutions are proving resilient and Putin’s desire to divide the democratic Allies has paradoxically proven to have bolstered NATO and EU and the international community resolve. Sanctions upon sanctions have surpassed anything seen by any other country as the global economy severs ties to the country. The Russian economy is in a nose-dive. NATO has rejected calls for a “no-fly zone” as tantamount to a direct NATO-Russia war, but piles of sophisticated Western munitions and fighters from around the world are ready to flow into the battle. Ukrainian resolve is steeled daily by a modern-day Churchill in a Kyiv bunker who said to Putin, “I am not afraid,” said Zelensky, and appearing on TV from his office, “Come and get me.”

So, how does this end. There does not appear to be an off-ramp for Putin, who was characterized by one pundit as having ten forward gears and no reverse gear. Indeed, CIA Director Bill Burns told Congress, “Putin is angry and frustrated right now.” He added, “The challenge he faces … he has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from the Ukrainians … He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties.”

To aid our understanding of this war that has reached Europe and is transforming the international system and the fate of nations, the American Council on Germany and the Tennessee World Affairs Council have been fortunate to enlist the authority of Ambassador John C. Kornblum for several programs: conversations about the looming war, the reaction of Germany, and the opening days of the unfolding conflict. [Videos here]  He is an eminent American diplomat and businessman, having served the United States: as Ambassador to Germany and to the OSCE, as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and numerous other posts in NATO and Europe.

Join the American Council on Germany and the Tennessee World Affairs Council for a discussion with Ambassador John Kornblum, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, and Dr. Liana Fix, Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (invited). They will talk about the latest developments of the conflict in Europe and put it in perspective by discussing the lasting consequences. 

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Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs, Special Envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. minister and deputy commandant of forces in divided Berlin. From 2001 to 2009, he was chairman of Lazard Freres Germany. He currently serves as senior counsellor to the international law firm Noerr LLP and as a senior adviser to the worldwide consultancy Accenture. Mr. Kornblum has also served on a number of supervisory and advisory boards including those of Thyssen-Krupp, Technologies AG, Bayer AG, Russell Reynolds, and Motorola Europe. He is a member of the boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the American Academy in Berlin, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and of numerous nonprofit organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1964, and he has been the recipient of many awards, including a Knights Cross of the Order of Merit from Germany and an Order of Merit from Austria.

Steven E. Sokol is the President of the American Council on Germany. Previously, he served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and prior to that he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany. Earlier in his career, Steve served as the Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Berlin, was the Head of the Project Management Department at the Bonn International Center for Conversion GmbH (BICC), and a Program Officer in the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He holds a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University as well as an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He has also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin.