Wilson Center Experts
Charles King
Fellow
European Studies
Contact Information:
T 202/691-4052
// F 202/691-4001
Expertise:
Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
; History
; Arts and Literature
; Urban Studies
; Europe
; Turkey
; Russia and Eurasia
; Caucasus
; Central Asia
; Russia
Affiliation:
Professor of International Affairs and Government, Georgetown University, and former Title VIII-Supported Short-Term Research Scholar, Kennan Institute
Wilson Center Project(s):
"From the Yildiz Palace: Turkey and the Transformation of the Near East"
Charles King is Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University, where he previously served as Chairman of the Faculty of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. King is the author or editor of six books, including Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams (Norton, 2011), The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus (Oxford, 2008), and The Black Sea: A History (Oxford, 2004).
His work has appeared in scholarly and policy-oriented journals such as Foreign Affairs, World Politics, and International Security, and he is a regular contributor of essays and reviews to the Times Literary Supplement. A frequent commentator on European and Eurasian affairs, King’s opinion pieces have appeared in newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, and he has worked with broadcast media ranging from NPR to MTV. Before coming to Georgetown, he worked as a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and as a junior research fellow at New College, Oxford. A native of the Ozark hill country, King was educated at the University of Arkansas and Oxford University (St. Antony’sCollege), where he was a British Marshall Scholar.
Previous Terms at the Wilson Center:
Title VIII-Supported Short-Term Research Scholar. Assistant Professor, Georgetown University: "Changing Russian and U.S. Perspectives on War Termination." April 1996. Project Summary: A study of the reassessment of the dynamics of war termination when third parties intervene in hostile environments war termination and operations other than war.
Related Content for this Expert
Every American Muslim's Fear After the Boston Bombing
Apr 22, 2013The Tsarnaev brothers are Muslim. They are homegrown jihadists. But careful, writes Wilson Center Fellow Charles King, are these terrorists really any different from Adam Lanza and other mass murderers? more
The Boston Bombing Suspects and The Caucasus
Apr 22, 2013So far the links between the horrors in Boston and the distant region of the North Caucasus are tenuous. The operative comparison in the coming days may not be with bearded jihadists fighting in the forests of the North Caucasus but rather with homegrown American terrorists radicalized by the internet and misguided youthful ardor. We must all wait for the facts to come out, writes Charles King in the Wall Street Journal. more
Not Your Average Chechen Jihadis
Apr 22, 2013Ever since the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing were identified as ethnic Chechens, the national conversation about the incident seemed to focus on the connection between the violence and Chechnya. In this op-ed from Foreign Affairs, Charles King describes various implications of the brother's Chechen background. more
A Muslim Weimar? Istanbul between the Wars
March 04, 2013 // 4:00pm — 5:30pm
One reading of modern Turkish history focuses on the country's perpetual race to catch up with Europe. In the often forgotten world of interwar Istanbul, Muslims were the powerful hosts and Europeans the unwanted migrants. more
The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century
November 06, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
Reflecting Vladimir Tismaneanu's personal experiences within communist totalitarianism, "The Devil in History" is about political passions, radicalism, utopian ideals, and their catastrophic consequences in the twentieth century’s experiments in social engineering. more
Nagorno-Karabakh: Will the Frozen Conflict Turn Hot?
June 05, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brutal war two decades ago over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire -- not a peace agreement -- has separated the combatants for years, but is now endangered by frequent violations and by a growing arms race. How dangerous is this situation and what can be done to avoid another open conflict?
more
The Road Taken: Twenty Years after the Fall of the Soviet Union
November 16, 2011 // 10:00am — 4:00pm
The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in an era of dramatic change that saw a world power transform into a diverse region composed of 15 independent states. After 20 years of transition, how have the states of the former Soviet Union redefined their political, foreign policy, and social agendas? more
Book Discussion: "Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams"
April 21, 2011 // 4:30pm — 6:00pm
In discussing his new book, "Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams," Charles King, Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University and former Title VIII-Supported Short-Term Scholar, Kennan Institute, analyzed the vibrant city of Odessa, and the destruction of its Jewish population. more
228. Rediscovering the Black Sea: The Wider Southeast Europe in History, Politics, and Policy
Jul 07, 2011February 2001- The Black Sea, in many ways, is back. Neal Ascherson's evocative travel book, Black Sea (1995), sparked new interest among travelers to Crimea, the Caucasus, and the northern coast of Turkey. The Black Sea Trade Project at the University of Pennsylvania promises to uncover new archaeological evidence of the connections among Greek trading colonies around the sea's rim, as well as of ancient settlements long since covered by the sea's waters. Then there is news that the great deluge of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh may actually have had its origins perhaps 8,000 years ago or so, when a great freshwater lake joined with the salty Mediterranean to form the strange ecological system of the Black Sea. more
147. The Politics of Language In Romania and Moldova
Jul 07, 2011December 1997 - Since the early 1990s, much of Romania's cultural politics has revolved around two crucial questions that have divided political and cultural elites in the region for much of this century. First, what does it mean to be Romanian in an ethnic or national sense? And second, how do non-Romanians fit into the politics of a country that is defined in the first sentence of its constitution as a "national and unitary" state? In other words, how does "Romanianness" relate to the boundaries of the Romanian state? Nowhere are these issues as strikingly revealed as in the politics of language. Many of these questions have equal importance in the "other" Romanian state, the Republic of Moldova, although the Moldovan case provides some instructive contrasts. more
Pages
A Muslim Weimar? Istanbul between the Wars
March 04, 2013 // 4:00pm — 5:30pm
One reading of modern Turkish history focuses on the country's perpetual race to catch up with Europe. In the often forgotten world of interwar Istanbul, Muslims were the powerful hosts and Europeans the unwanted migrants.
The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century
November 06, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
Reflecting Vladimir Tismaneanu's personal experiences within communist totalitarianism, "The Devil in History" is about political passions, radicalism, utopian ideals, and their catastrophic consequences in the twentieth century’s experiments in social engineering.
Nagorno-Karabakh: Will the Frozen Conflict Turn Hot?
June 05, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brutal war two decades ago over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire -- not a peace agreement -- has separated the combatants for years, but is now endangered by frequent violations and by a growing arms race. How dangerous is this situation and what can be done to avoid another open conflict?
The Road Taken: Twenty Years after the Fall of the Soviet Union
November 16, 2011 // 10:00am — 4:00pm
The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in an era of dramatic change that saw a world power transform into a diverse region composed of 15 independent states. After 20 years of transition, how have the states of the former Soviet Union redefined their political, foreign policy, and social agendas?
Book Discussion: "Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams"
April 21, 2011 // 4:30pm — 6:00pm
In discussing his new book, "Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams," Charles King, Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University and former Title VIII-Supported Short-Term Scholar, Kennan Institute, analyzed the vibrant city of Odessa, and the destruction of its Jewish population.
Extreme Politics: Nationalism, Violence, and the End of Eastern Europe
March 03, 2010 // 11:00am — 12:00pm
Charles King's new book Extreme Politics declares an end to the period of "post-communism," both as a period of European History and in terms of the conduct of US foreign policy. The book offers a critique of the way in which academics and policy makers have viewed this period, which began with the fall of the Berlin Wall on 11/9/1989 and ended with the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. King argues that this period should be viewed as a unique interlude, rather than as a postscript to the Cold War.