Maxwell School News and Commentary

"I think Putin emerges from this significantly weakened," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. "I think if you're a member of the Russian elite or are in fact a member of the Russian population, you're going to look at this and think, 'Wow, a private army just drove on Moscow for most of the day. No one stopped them and they're allowed to leave and no real consequences.'"

“The whole huachicolero [fuel theives] phenomenon, it’s been in play for a long time in Mexico,” explains Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

"He’s [Prigozhin] clearly trying to draw a sharp contrast between his presence directly on the battlefield, his engagement with his soldiers, and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, which he frequently attacks as being out of touch elitists who are damaging the war effort," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.

While Trump’s “most diehard supporters are always going to be supporters no matter what…some people who are on the margins, part of the 40 percent that voted for him a couple of times, will tend to peel away,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

"DeSantis would most benefit from Trump dropping out of the race but he seems to have calculated that they have many of the same potential voters so doesn't want to alienate them," says Shana Gadarian, professor and chair of political science.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, says no single law will solve the issues of gun violence. “You have to think very specifically about it,” Reeher says. “There is no one blanket policy that is going to say, ‘OK, this is going to reduce gun violence and it is going to apply equally to everybody.’ You have to think of the pockets and where the risk is.”

“The critical difference is there was no threat to the integrity of a democracy in Tennessee,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. “Insurrection conditions occur when civilian authorities are unable to enforce the laws. That was a real threat on Jan. 6. Not so in Nashville.”

Discussing the AR-15's appeal on the right, Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Newsweek: "In large part, I think it's because this particular rifle has become such a public target for Democrats and liberals regarding gun regulation and control. ...The rifle has become a symbol of the debate over gun control, and the political right is more associated with gun ownership and rights."

“This is not the end of what may happen,” says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. “It may in fact be the beginning. We've never seen this before, and I don't think we can dismiss it as a partisan political act. Certainly, there have been other presidents who have had strong opposition in the past and yet they have not faced this kind of jeopardy.”

As public concerns about crime mounted in the 1980s and 1990s, AR-15 marketers started to adjust their depiction of what was on the receiving end of the barrel. “People, rather than animals, were the target,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “That allows it to be sold more as a self-defense weapon, particularly inside the home.”