About the Event:

Wine reception at 6:00 PM. 

The actual course of Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine may not be determined for some time to come. But what is certain is that this invasion has shaken Europe and the world – and might be the starting point of a new Post-Cold War Order.

An Iron Curtain may again be falling across Europe. NATO and our European allies are united and engaged on defense in an intensity not seen in decades. Germany is focusing on its military at a level not seen since the end of WWII. Out of a fear of Russia’s next unpredictable and violent steps, long time neutral powers, such as Finland and Sweden, are now considering joining NATO’s alliance and gaining its protection.

A new, polarized and divided world may be emerging with U.S. and our democratic allies around the world standing together against the growing threat of the authoritarianism of Russia, China and others.

Richard Fontaine is the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), one the world’s premier defense and geopolitical think tanks; and for many years, he served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain. While it is difficult to predict exactly what may occur next and the lasting global impacts of the Ukraine War, Fontaine argues:

‘Some geopolitical outlines have already come into focus, and they are drastically different from the old ones. Lenin reportedly once said, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This (week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) is one of those weeks’.

About the Speaker:

Richard Fontaine is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). He served as President of CNAS from 2012-19 and as Senior Fellow from 2009-12. Prior to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Fontaine served as foreign policy advisor to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign and subsequently as the minority deputy staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to that, he served as Associate Director for Near Eastern Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) from 2003-04. He also worked on Southeast Asian issues in the NSC’s Asian Affairs directorate.

At the State Department, Mr. Fontaine worked for the Deputy Secretary and in the department’s South Asia bureau. Mr. Fontaine began his foreign policy career as a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, focusing on the Middle East and South Asia. He also spent a year teaching English in Japan.

Mr. Fontaine currently serves as Executive Director of the Trilateral Commission, on the Defense Policy Board, and as a Sine Institute Fellow at American University. He has been an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

A native of New Orleans, Mr. Fontaine graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in International Relations from Tulane University. He also holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, and he attended Oxford University. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their four children.