The invasion of Ukraine has sparked the greatest crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Vladimir Putin’s threat to annex Ukraine to Russia threatens to upend the global consensus, accepted since the end of World War II, that conquest is no longer a legitimate act.
What is Russia’s motivation for launching the war? How should Europe and the U.S. react? Does this spell the end of friendly relations between Russia and the West?
Join us for a discussion with a specialist in the field, retired US Army Colonel Liam Collins, and bring your questions and comments concerning the recent crisis. Collins traveled to Ukraine between 2016-2018 with General Abizaid, former Senior Defense Advisor to Ukraine for Defense Reform.
IN-PERSON – SHEPARD HALL 107
**Everyone who attends in-person must be ready to display evidence of full vaccination upon entering Shepard Hall. See Covid Guidelines below.
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Dr. Liam Collins is the executive director of the Viola Foundation, the executive director of the Madison Policy Forum, a senior fellow with New America, and a permanent member with the Council on Foreign Relations. He is co-editor of the recently released Routledge Handbook of U.S. Counterterrorism and Irregular Warfare Operations and co-editor of the forthcoming Understanding Urban Warfare.
From 2016-2018, Liam served as a defense advisor to Ukraine. In that position he met with hundreds of Ukrainian officials to include their president, minister of defense, and chief of defense to help them reform their defense establishment. Within the United States he met with numerous officials including the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defense, senior Department of State Officials, and the House Armed Services Committee. He has also conducted field research in Georgia to study the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and to the Baltics to study their attempts to deter Russian aggression. He has authored numerous articles and reports and most recently, he has provided expert commentary for BBC World News, CNN, Fox News, CBC News, Deutsche Welle News TV, BBC Radio, and CBC Radio, among others, to discuss the current war.
Liam served in the U.S. Army for 27 years. As a career Special Forces officer, he conducted multiple operational and combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, South America, and the Horn of Africa. Liam retired from the military in 2019 as the founding director of the Modern War Institute and the director of the Department of Military Instruction at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The author of dozens of articles and reports related to terrorism and conflict, Liam’s work has been cited by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security & Counterterrorism, the White House Press Secretary, The New York Times, Associated Press, CNN, ABC News, Fox News, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
Liam’s military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal (with “V” device for valor), Army Commendation Medal (with “V” device for valor), Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Sapper Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, and Military Free Fall Badge with Bronze Star (for combat jump).
An accomplished athlete and coach, he has competed as an athlete and coached teams in different sports at multiple world championships. He won the Army’s Best Ranger Competition in 2007 and was selected as the Army’s Coach of the Year in 2011. He also has two multi-million dollar winning thoroughbred racehorses named after him.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace) from the United States Military Academy, and a Master’s in Public Affairs and a PhD from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
