The Defense of Europe in the Age of Trump

From the end of WWII European defense rested on American power and leadership. From extended nuclear deterrence to intelligence sharing to conventional troops, the US provided the foundational architecture of European security.

Since the beginning of his second term, however, Trump has systematically undermined international institutions, destabilized NATO , and aggressively asserted influence over the Western hemisphere including Greenland. At the same time, Russia has been increasing sub-threshold operations against Europe including missile incursions, electronic jamming, undersea infrastructure sabotage, and drone disruption of airports.

Many fear this is a prelude to conventional military operations and a potential territorial attack against Poland or the Baltics. This seminar will explore the difficult task of how we rebuild European defense and deterrence in this increasingly hostile world.

Professor Kristen A. Harkness joined the School of International Relations in 2013. She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame after earning her PhD in Comparative Politics and International Relations from Princeton University.

Professor Harkness' research interests lie at the intersection of ethnic politics and conflict studies, with a regional focus on Africa. She is engaged in several ongoing research projects that share a substantive focus on understanding the role of ethnicity in shaping the causes and dynamics of violence and a methodological focus on creating original large-N datasets through intensive archival research.