Krister Knapp

The Russian invasion of Ukraine took much of the world by surprise. On March 9, a group of WashU faculty will attempt to sort through the roots of the conflict, as well as the latest developments, in the virtual panel discussion “Crisis in Ukraine.”

In the post-Cold War era, the gradual emergence of an independent Ukrainian identity has threatened Kremlin ambitions for a unified Slavic whole, writes WashU’s Krister Knapp.

For years after the World Trade Center collapsed, it became common to hear that “9/11 changed everything.” Yet the phrase is ripe for historical analysis, said Krister Knapp, teaching professor and minor adviser in history in Arts & Sciences.

The swift fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban apparently signals the end of a nearly 20-year conflict. But is it, asks Krister Knapp, a teaching professor of history in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Or is this simply the beginning of the next chapter of U.S/Afghan entanglements?

It is the ultimate symbol of public trust. Accompanying the president, at virtually all times, is a military aid with a large black satchel known as the “nuclear football.” But for all its prominence in the popular imagination, the football does not contain some sort of “nuclear button” that might allow a president to single-handedly initiate nuclear launch, says Krister Knapp, senior lecturer in history in Arts & Sciences.