Diplomacy in Real-Time: In Brussels, Students Study Ukraine-Europe Ties

August 4, 2026

Authored by:

John DiConsiglio

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the response from the West was swift. The United States, NATO and the European Union (EU) rallied behind Kyiv with military, humanitarian and financial assistance. While European nations collectively shouldered the largest burden, the U.S. led the way with a total of $70 billion in direct military aid and nearly $200 billion in broader support.

Today, that transatlantic landscape has shifted almost as dramatically as the battlefield dynamics themselves.

As the U.S. has reduced its direct role, European institutions have been pressed to close the gap. At this summer's summit in Ankara, Turkey, NATO allies excluding the U.S. pledged 70 billion euros-about $80 billion in U.S dollars-in additional assistance for Ukraine, while the EU approved a 90 billion euro loan for Kyiv.

Is the new approach working? Can Europe fill the void? And what does this realignment mean not just for Ukraine, but for the future of global security?

Those were the questions 13 George Washington University students set out to answer in Confronting Putin: European Responses to Russia's War on Ukraine, a short-term study abroad course led by Andrew Hyde, an adjunct professor in political science at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS).

This summer, Hyde, who served 30 years as a U.S. diplomat and Foreign Service political officer, guided graduate and undergraduate students through an intensive week in Brussels for a firsthand look at international affairs in action. Their itinerary included visits to the NATO headquarters, the EU and the U.S. and Ukrainian missions to both NATO and the EU They met with diplomats, military officials, policymakers, politicians, journalists and analysts to see how Europe is responding to its biggest security crisis since World War II.

The class visited NATO headquarters in Brussels, where member state flags adorn a plaza dubbed Place pour les drapeaux-the Place for Flags.

Designed as "a practical, hands-on, policy-oriented course," Hyde, a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center, wanted students to look beyond the headlines and grasp how global decisions are made in real time. "They've read about it in the news, but what does it actually feel like?" he said. "What's actually going on underneath the hood."

Accompanied by CCAS Professional Lecturer Colin Cleary, the class brought together students with a range of backgrounds and international experiences. It included students who were born in Azerbaijan and Germany and others who had never even owned a passport.

For sophomore Will Magnus, a political science and international affairs double major, the class paired his passion for global politics with his first-ever trip abroad. As he toured Brussels' cobblestone streets and Gothic architecture, he also attended high-level meetings with European leaders and institutions.

"I've read about what Europe has done in response to the [Russian] invasion, and [its] reactions to statements by the current U.S. administration, but it was really eye-opening to hear the European perspective firsthand," he said.

Policy in practice

The course unfolded in three phases: prep sessions in Foggy Bottom, a full week in Brussels and a post-trip collaborative 50-page class report which several of the students are preparing for possible publication and may present to the GW community and Capitol Hill policymakers. Before departing D.C., students heard from former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer and Daria Haidai, counsellor at the Embassy of Ukraine.

In Brussels, the class discovered that supporting Ukraine involves far more than announcing new weapons packages. Meeting after meeting revealed the enormous logistical and political complexities to coordinating aid across dozens of governments and institutions. "It's easy for policymakers and politicians to say, 'Well, we should just do this,'" Hyde noted. "But the actual mechanics of doing that is hard and complex."

In their meetings, NATO and EU officials acknowledged the challenges created by a less-engaged America, Hyde said. But there was also a surprising sense of confidence that Europe could turn the new global terrain into a more durable security architecture for itself-one that recognizes Ukraine's defense as inseparable from Europe's own stability. "I found it reassuring," he said. "They looked at it as the glass being three-quarters full."

The class visited Ypres battlefield, site of deadly World War I trench warfare. From left, Jared Asplundh, Will Magnus, Andrew Hyde, Svenja Stubner, Colin Cleary and Micheal Tascher.

Indeed, many students walked away from the trip with an image of Ukraine as an equal partner in Europe's defense. "The conflict has forced the country to innovate and adapt to emerging battlefield technology in ways many other countries have not," said Gwen Todd, a junior political science major with minors in international affairs and American studies. Todd pointed to Ukraine's war-time advances-from drone warfare to military adaptations-as "incredibly valuable not only for Europe but for the United States as well."

Navroop Cheema, a second-year graduate student in the CCAS Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, singled out the visit to NATO headquarters as a highlight. A U.S. Air Force reservist, Cheema said observing NATO employees at work connected her academic interests to her military service. "I immediately had feelings of accomplishment, importance, history and ambitious energy wash over me," she said.

Despite a packed schedule, students found time to embrace the city's charms, from attending Pride Month events and World Cup viewing parties to "watching the sunset from a rooftop, going on a walking tour and having waffles in the rain," Cheema recalled.

One memorable afternoon, the class ventured outside of Brussels to a battlefield at Ypres, where hundreds of thousands died during some of World War I's deadliest trench warfare. Hyde planned the tour to connect the policy conversations with the realities of armed conflicts. "It was a reminder of the human cost of war," said senior political science major Michael Tascher.

As an Air Force reservist, that lesson hit home for Cheema, who found it "jarring to see the actual remnants of war and to reflect on the fact that we are continuing to engage in it."