Book Talk | Boiling Point: How America Brought War to Ukraine

November 17, 2026

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST

Commentators and historians the world over will debate for decades to come when precisely did the war over Ukraine begin. For bestselling author Stephen Kinzer, the story begins 75 years ago in the refugee camps of postwar Europe, where CIA officers recruited their first Ukrainian agents. In Boiling Point: How America Brought War to Ukraine, Kinzer details the untold history of US interest in Ukraine throughout the Cold War and in the post-Cold War decades that helped lead to the tragic war that continues to this day.

Kinzer, senior fellow in International and Public Affairs at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, will speak with Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, on his new book and its implications for war and peace today.

The conversation will take place Tuesday, November 17 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET.

Panelists

Stephen Kinzer

Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning author and foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. He was Latin America correspondent for The Boston Globe, and then spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, with extended postings in Nicaragua, Germany, and Turkey. He is a senior fellow at the Watson School for International Studies at Brown University.

Anatol Lieven

Anatol Lieven is the director of the Eurasia Program and the Andrew Bacevich chair in American Diplomatic History at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. He also served as a member of the advisory committee of the South Asia Department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and of the academic board of the Valdai discussion club in Russia.

Program

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