Maxwell School News and Commentary

"During my conversations with Tsinghua University faculty and students regarding whether they would consider studying in the United States, they expressed fear and anxiety about what they perceive as 'a hostile America' toward China—specifically, the U.S. policies targeting Chinese talent and the broader anti-China rhetoric," Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology.

"President Biden promised a 'whole of government' approach to the climate crisis after taking office. But his absence at the COP28 meeting signals a lack of interest in the dangers of the ongoing climate crisis. Given that the United States is the world's largest emitter, this should be an international scandal," says Matthew Huber, professor of geography and the environment.

In his essay, the Maxwell School political scientist contends that Chinese bank expansion abroad may weaken Washington’s ability to leverage financial sanctions.

Talk of a BRICS common currency is “really a reflection of a desire among some segments of the world to have some counterweight to the U.S., the U.S. economy, the dollar,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science. But “I think most of this is just in fantasy land, because I don’t see any world in which it is really going to emerge in the way some people might hope.”

High level military contact sends a message “that we’re not looking for anything that might lead to an incident. And if you do have a dustup that does call for national level dialogue, it’s available and something you can fall back on,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

The position was created with a gift by Syracuse University alumni Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li to strengthen connections between Maxwell faculty and scholars in China and Asia.

George Kallander, professor and director of graduate studies for the history department, has written his third book, “Human-Animal Relations and the Hunt in Korea and Northeast Asia” (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). 

Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology, says that around 2018-2019, American universities began to see a slight decrease in the number of Chinese students. “And then the pandemic hit,” Ma says. “And with the rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China...[it] made Chinese students hesitate to come to the United States to study.”

“To me, de-dollarization just means a government’s ability to reduce its dependence or reliance on the dollar,” says Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science. “I think the key thing here is to try to distinguish or separate the concept of de-dollarization from the end of dollar dominance. I don’t think those two things have to go together.”