US Military Intervention and the Aftermath

Public event with Karin von Hippel on policy making, partnerships and coalitions in the Trump/new era.

Karin von Hippel is a scholar, analyst and diplomat, as well as author of Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World. From her work in Kosovo, Somalia, London, and Washington, she will discuss today’s modern conflicts and the means to address them in an ever-changing world. Much like the change at the end of the Cold War, we face today fundamental shifts in geopolitics, alliances and the rules-based order. Von Hippel will talk about the lessons of the past few decades to consider how to address challenges we see now.

Discussion will be moderated by Victoria K. Holt, Norman E. McCulloch Jr. Director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.

Dr Karin von Hippel manages a diverse portfolio that includes organisations focusing on defence, security, geopolitics, open-source intelligence, and advanced technology. She also serves as a Trustee for several charities, including the European Leadership Network, and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). From 2015-2024, she was Director-General of RUSI, the London-based defence and security think tank. Prior to that, she served for nearly six years in the US Department of State as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and finally, as Chief of Staff to the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL. She co-directed the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London. She has worked for the United Nations and the European Union in Somalia and Kosovo, and has direct experience in over two dozen conflict zones. Dr von Hippel has numerous publications to her name, including Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World (2000), which was short-listed for the RUSI Westminster Medal in Military History. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MSt from Oxford University, and a BA from Yale University.

Thursday, May 7, 2026

4:30pm

Haldeman 041

Recorded and livestreamed - Register for the webinar here.

More information here.