Experts & Staff

Gustav Gressel

Senior Policy Fellow

Areas of expertise

Eastern Europe; Russia; armed conflict and military affairs; defence policy; missile defence; missile proliferation

Languages

German and English (fluent), Spanish and Polish (conversational)

Biography

Gustav Gressel is a senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Berlin office. His topics of focus include Russia, Eastern Europe, and defense policy.

Before joining ECFR, Gressel worked as a desk officer for international security policy and strategy in the Bureau for Security Policy of the Austrian Ministry of Defence from 2006 to 2014, and as a research fellow of the Commissioner for Strategic Studies with the Austrian MoD from 2003 to 2006. He was also a research fellow with the International Institute for Liberal Politics in Vienna. Before his academic career he served five years in the Austrian Armed Forces.

Gressel holds a PhD in Strategic Studies at the Faculty of Military Sciences at the National University of Public Service, Budapest and a Masters Degree in political science from Salzburg University. He is the author of numerous publications regarding security policy and strategic affairs and a frequent commentator on international affairs. His opinions have appeared in media such as the New York Times, the Guardian, Die Welt, NZZ, Bild, the DiplomatNew Eastern Europe, Foreign Policy, Gazeta PrawnaRzeczpospolita, Kyiv Post, the Moscow TimesCapital, the Telegraph, the EconomistNewsweek, Deutsche Welle, RTL, al Jazeera, TVP, TRT, Polskie Radio, RFI, FM4, Ukraine Today, and Radio Free Europe.

Is Germany breaking bad?

In an international order that is beginning to resemble a competition between rival cartels, Angela Merkel risks becoming a kind of geopolitical Walter White

Germany’s defence commitments: nothing but paper tigers?

Scepticism about Germany’s willingness to confront a revisionist Russia in 2014 has vanished. But there is new disappointment that the German diplomatic leadership has no military equivalent.

Austria: Russia’s Trojan Horse?

Europe should be worried about the new Austrian government’s proximity to Russia, not Hungary

Navigating the Eastern Flank without Germany?

German relegation of security and defence to non-core issues leaves European observers puzzling where Germany is heading, and how far it can be relied upon

Russia’s quiet military revolution

Russia is clearly preparing for offensive operations, but the likelihood of action depends on the quality of Europe’s own defence

Publications

Articles

The case for sending fighter jets to Ukraine

Ukraine needs fighter jets to counter Russia’s changing military approach. The US should learn from last year’s delay over tank deliveries and approve their release as soon as possible

Shadow of the bomb: Russia’s nuclear threats

Russia is the first state to use nuclear threats as part of a war of expansion. Unless it loses in Ukraine, the world will become a far more dangerous place.

Ukraine: Time for the West to prepare for the long war

Russia is drawing on its Syria playbook and regrouping for a long war to seize the whole of Ukraine. The West needs to take action now to supply Ukraine with Western equipment.

Podcasts

Events

In the media