Maxwell School News and Commentary

"There's an ongoing public split between Wagner and the Russian military, and both sides are looking for symbolic wins," says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

Buzard, associate professor of economics, is part of a three-member team that will explore the extent to which mothers are more likely than fathers to be contacted by their child’s school.

Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history, says Mexico already has a significant police and military presence on its side of the border and efforts to confront the cartels militarily have not solved the problem. “It’s been tried and it has failed colossally,” McCormick says. “So the idea to sort of try it again to me sounds utterly irresponsible.”

It’s unlikely anything will be done in the near term, in part because of the current lack of bipartisanship in Washington, says Gary Engelhardt, professor of economics.

"Putin has always known that NATO poses no credible security threat to Russia itself. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO’s force posture and the U.S. military presence in Europe have greatly declined, reducing any potential military threat to Russia. What really scares the Russian elite is the spread of democracy," argues Michael John Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.

Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, has contributed to and co-edited “The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession” (Routledge, 2023). It investigates debates surrounding issues of self-determination and secession as well as the legal, political and normative implications they give rise to.

Overall, grandmothers still take the lead in spending time with grandchildren, often rearranging their schedules to do so, says Madonna Harrington Meyer, University Professor and author of “Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs” (NYU Press, 2014).

"Selecting our nation’s leaders is becoming increasingly complex and challenging, but we can make it more effective by ensuring the processes—for elections as well as appointments—reinforce democracy rather than erode our confidence in it," says James-Christian Blockwood, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

"Those who think international law can curb mercenarism are unrealistic. Even if we had solid laws (which we do not), who will go into Ukraine and arrest all those mercenaries? Not the UN or NATO. The market for force resists arrest, which is why mercenaries are the second oldest profession. Now they are back, and we must re-learn strategies to fight this unique form of warfare," writes Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

"What all of this adds up to is a really complicated rewiring of activity patterns where people who live in the hinterland have greater choice as to which big city they gravitate toward for employment/shopping/sports-team fandom, where they can more easily travel to the big city they find most appealing," says Anne Mosher, associate professor of geography and the environment.