Maxwell School News and Commentary

"When you see a piece of misinformation, even when it’s in the context of being corrected and you believe the correction, it can still have lingering effects on your attitudes," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science.

"I would never underestimate the Japanese military," says Robert Murrett, deputy director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism. "In terms of just sheer military proficiency — unit for unit, person for person, they’re the best military in Asia."

"People have always been susceptible to misinformation," Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, says. "The real challenge now lies in the immediacy, scope and ease of dissemination we now see with new technologies like social media."

Thomas Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, says that while constitutional conventions could help advance civil rights by allowing organized groups to propose and implement changes to the state constitution, there is a fear that the same issues that plague state legislatures, like corporate cash or politician corruption, could also influence the construction of a new constitution.

"I think the fact that [George] Papadopoulos had a meeting early on or had connections early on with Russian government officials while he was employed by the Trump campaign is pretty damaging," says William C. Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism.

The Public Policy and International Affairs Program is a seven week summer fellowship that promotes the inclusion of underrepresented groups in public service and advances their leadership roles throughout civic institutions. “This experience reaffirmed my intention to pursue a graduate degree in public affairs. More importantly, I learned how I could combine my passion for public policy and science in graduate school,” says Chizobam Nwagwu ’18, who recently completed the fellowship.

"This is potentially a can of worms, and Mueller has opened that can today," says Bill Smullen, director of the National Security Studies program.