Georgian relations with Russia have been tense over the years, particularly with Moscow's support for breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  Events boiled over in July 2008, leading to open hostilities between the two countries.  Rapid Russian recognition of South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence, coupled with military support for the separatists, strained European relations with Russia and have left the United States and NATO struggling to find an appropriate response.  What strategic goals underpinned Russian use of force in Georgia?  How will this affect stability in the Caucasus and Black Sea regions?  Will the incursion impact the NATO membership bids of Ukraine, Georgia, and other countries?  How should the United States and NATO respond?  To discuss these issues and more, please join Stephen Flanagan, Senior Vice President and Director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

To attend, please register by emailing events@ypfp.org with your name and affiliation.

Stephen Flanagan
Stephen Flanagan is senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at CSIS, where he holds the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in National Security Policy.  Before joining CSIS, he served as director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies and vice president for research at the National Defense University from January 2001 through May 2007.  He held several senior positions in government between 1989 and 1999, including special assistant to the president and senior director for Central and Eastern Europe, National Security Council Staff; associate director and member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff; and national intelligence officer for Europe. Earlier in his career, he was a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1978–1983).

Flanagan has also held several academic and research positions, including senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies; faculty member at the National War College, NDU; and executive director, Center for Science and International Affairs and faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School; and international affairs fellow, Council on Foreign Relations.

He has published numerous books and articles on international security affairs and is coauthor of Challenges of the Global Century (2001), and coeditor of The PLA and China in Transition (2003) and Strategic Challenges: America’s Global Security Agenda (summer 2007). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Joint Force Quarterly, International Security, and Politique Americaine.

Flanagan is a recipient of the State Department’s Superior and Meritorious Service Awards, the CJCS Distinguished Civilian Service Award, as well as decorations from the presidents of Poland and Romania. He earned his B.A. in political science from Columbia University in 1973 and his Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University in 1979.