Press | Foreign Affairs

On September 13th, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Clements-Strauss Intelligence Studies Project, hosted “The War in Ukraine: On the Battlefield, in the Kremlin, and in the Courtroom.” The event kicked off with keynote remarks on “Investigating Russian War Crimes: Ukraine’s Quest for Justice” by…

In this new article, graduate fellow Sam Rosenberg and Dr. Alexandra Chinchilla delve into why the U.S. should consider sending military advisers to Ukraine: “Advisers will, in other words, help bring about the war’s endgame: a free Ukraine integrated into the institutions at the foundation of Europe.”

Applications are open now through Friday, November 3, 2023 at 11:00 pm Central for the “London Maymester: The U.S., U.K., and World Order.” London Maymester: The U.S., U.K., and World Order In partnership with the world-renowned War Studies Department at King’s College London, the Maymester in London provides exemplary students the opportunity to learn firsthand about…

As part of Tablet’s ongoing series on the U.S.-Israel ‘special relationship’, Daniel J. Samet and Raphael Benlevi explain “The Pro-America Case for Ending Aid”. “Rather than being a zero-sum equation, it is in the best interests of both the U.S. and Israel to phase out aid gradually.”

“Since he came to power in 2012, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been laser-focused on ensuring the security of his regime.”

Sam Rosenberg, Jahara Matisek and William Reno make a case for more informal assistance to Ukraine from the United States and its allies: “Over the past year, such informal assistance has come to play a crucial role in many aspects of the Ukrainian war effort and counteroffensive.”

This last semester, Graduate Fellow Sam Rosenberg cowrote two articles for RUSI about military assistance to Ukraine. You can read them here: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Assessing a Year of Military Aid to Ukraine US-led Security Assistance to Ukraine is Working  

Former Clements Center Undergraduate Fellow Cameron Waltz coauthored an opinion piece with Zoe Leung of the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations for The Hill on how the upcoming Taiwanese 2024 presidential election may shape crisis management in East Asia.

“…Japan’s and South Korea’s interests and activities are meeting in strategic spaces in Southeast Asia…Despite sharing common goals in these spaces, so far Seoul and Tokyo have not collaborated in their efforts.” Clements Center alum Jada Fraser and current Grad Fellow Ryan Ashley recently published a new article in Asia Policy, “Common Waters: Japan, South…

Message from the Director

We draw your attention to a Moscow court’s recent sentencing of Russian politician, journalist and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in a penal colony for an earlier treason conviction for his public criticism of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Many of you will recall Kara-Murza’s visit to UT-Austin in February 2022 – two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. He was invited to Austin by the Clements Center for National Security, Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Intelligence Studies Project, together with the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and UT’s Global Disinformation Lab.

“Debates about appropriate military equipment for Ukraine continue a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These arguments focus predominantly on state-to-state assistance. But they miss an important element of Kyiv’s battlefield performance: informal security assistance. Aid from domestic civil society, informal military networks, and foreign volunteers are bolstering the Armed Forces of Ukraine in real and meaningful ways.”

“…defense-industrial cooperation can often be a precursor to deeper security cooperation overall…” Check out Clements Center Alum Jada Fraser’s analysis of how AUKUS may affect Australia-South Korea relations.

“The next six months will be pretty pivotal…” Clements Executive Director Will Inboden was quoted in a Newsweek article, “2024 Republican Hopefuls Attack Biden On Ukraine At Pivotal Moment For Kyiv.” 

Napoleon once said that leaders are “dealers in hope.” While such a label might seem to fit Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, it fits more awkwardly on Russian President Vladimir Putin. How has the leadership of these two men shaped the onset and current progress of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Would the invasion have happened at all, or if had happened would it have progressed differently under different leadership? These are the fundamental questions addressed in this week’s Horns of a Dilemma. Texas National Security Review Executive Editor Doyle Hodges is joined by Brown University Professor (and member of the TNSR Editorial Board) Rose McDermott to discuss political psychology, leadership, and the war in Ukraine.

In this week’s Horns of a Dilemma, Daniel Runde of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaks about his new book, TheAmerican Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power.  

A year ago, as Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine was proving not to be the quick and easy victory Vladimir Putin had expected, some observers speculated that the bungled decision to invade his neighbor could be Putin’s undoing.  The idea of a Russian state without Putin raised alluring prospects of reform. In this week’sHorns of a Dilemma, American University Professor Joseph Torigian discusses the dynamics of authoritarian succession.