Michael C. Kimmage, PhD Chair, Department of History, Catholic University and Leading Authority on Russia and Ukraine
For the first time since the end of the Second World War, a major war is being fought in Central Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered the postwar hope that such a development was impossible. The war has been a tragedy for Ukraine, and for Russia it has entailed a seismic shift - a massive expenditure of manpower and materiel in Ukraine, a radical break from the West and a new set of partnerships in the "global south" and with China.
The invasion has raised countless questions about Russia and Central Europe. Among them, the crucial questions are: Why does Russia view Ukraine with a mixture of overt hostility and the conviction that parts of Ukraine are somehow Russian? Why did Putin choose to invade Ukraine in February 2022? Why did the invasion spur Finland and Sweden to give up neutrality and attempt to join NATO? How does the expansion of NATO change Europe's geopolitical structure? How might this conflict end? And what would a loss in Ukraine mean for Putin personally?
Professor Kimmage is full Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at The Catholic University of America and Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. He served on the Senior Staff of Secretary of State John Kerry where he held Russia/Ukraine Portfolio.
He was Visiting Professor at Ludwig-Maximillians Universitat’s Amerika-Institut in Munich, Germany and at Vilnius University in Lithuania. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Kennan Institute for Russian Studies of the Stiftung Wissenchaft und Politik Institute in Berlin.
Dr. Kimmage is a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies, and at The Fulbright Foundation and has been a German Chancellor Scholar, a Javits Scholar, and a British Marshall Scholar.
Dr. Kimmage is the author of six books and numerous article and columns. He holds Bachelor Degrees from Oberlin College and Oxford University, and an MA and PhD from Harvard University.