The long and winding road from chiral effective Lagrangians to nuclear structure

I review the chiral dynamics of nuclear physics. In the first part, I discuss the new developments in the construction of the forces between two, three and four nucleons which have been partly carried out to fifth order in the chiral expansion. It is also shown that based on these forces in conjunction with the estimation of the corresponding theoretical uncertainties, the need for three-nucleon forces in few nucleon systems can be unambiguously established. I also introduce the lattice formulation of these forces, which allow for truly ab initio calculations of nuclear structure and reactions. I present some pertinent results of the nuclear lattice approach. Finally, I discuss how few-nucleon systems and nuclei can be used to explore symmetries and physics within and beyond the standard model.