The War in Ukraine and the Transatlantic Alliance

Charly Salonius-Pasternak is a Leading Researcher at FIIA and leads the work of the Center on US Politics and Power (CUSPP). His work at FIIA focuses on international security issues, especially Nordic and transatlantic security (including NATO), as well as U.S. foreign and defence policy. Recently he has focused on Finnish-Swedish defence cooperation and the evolution of US and NATO alliance reassurance approaches in light of the changed regional security situation. In 2017, he was a visiting research fellow at the Changing Character of War programme at Pembroke College (Oxford University), where he studied the hybridization of warfare and the impact of the Information Age on the character of war.

Lieutenant General Frederick “Ben” Hodges was the Commanding General, United States Army Europe. A native of Florida, General Hodges is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In addition to a variety of staff positions in the United States, he has served in Germany, Iraq, Korea, Afghanistan, and Turkey. General Hodges commanded infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels at the 101st Airborne Division. He has also been the Commander, NATO Allied Land Command.

Deborah A. McCarthy is an expert on U.S. foreign and national security policy with over 30 years of diplomatic experience. Until last year she was a Fellow at Harvard University. She is also consultant with the Transnational Security Group and the producer of the national security podcast “The General and the Ambassador” (https://www.generalambassadorpodcast.org). She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania from 2013 to 2016. Previously, she was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs. Ms McCarthy also served as Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Greece and the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua. In Washington, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Narcotics and Law Enforcement, the Senior Advisor for Counter Terrorism and the Special Coordinator for Venezuela. Other diplomatic postings include: Consul General Montreal, Economic Counselor U.S. Embassy Paris, Financial Economist U.S. Embassy Rome and assignments in the Dominic Republic and Haiti.