Skip to content

Maxwell School News and Commentary

Filtered by: Defense & Security

Baker comments on call for Trump to use Defense Production Act in NY Times

"What the federal government—the president or secretaries possessing delegated authority—have not done yet is use the D.P.A. [Defense Production Act] to create a permanent, sustainable, redundant, domestic supply chain for all things pandemic: testing, swabs, N95 masks, etc.," says Jamie Baker, director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law and professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

July 31, 2020

Banks comments on Hong Kong's new national security law in South China Morning Post

"[National security] definitions are a game that all governments play. Pay attention instead to how governments treat their citizens," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

July 7, 2020

Banks quoted in Vox article on military deployment at US-Mexico border

While military deployment to the border by President Trump is "clearly legal," Professor of Practice William Banks questions "whether the wall construction itself is lawful."

June 26, 2020

Banks explains role of National Guard in PBS NewsHour article

The National Guard is trained to help domestically in a variety of capacities. "That said, they are members of the military, not law enforcement, so they are largely trained to supplement military jobs," says Professor Emeritus William Banks.

June 10, 2020

Banks discusses the Insurrection Act with Christian Science Monitor, Military.com

"You want to come to the aid of the states when states can’t take care of themselves," says Professor Emeritus William C. Banks, about President Trump's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.

June 4, 2020

O'Keefe discusses USS Theodore Roosevelt COVID incident in NY Times, Washington Post

"At its core, this is about an aircraft carrier skipper who sees an imminent threat and is forced to make a decision that risks his career in the act of what he believes to be the safety of the near 5,000 members of his crew," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe.

April 9, 2020

Banks cautions against use of military during pandemic in Daily News

Most of the time...America’s military forces have remained in the background, waiting for direction from civilian leaders to respond to crises and then only in limited ways," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "That’s by design. We train soldiers to fight and win wars and deter threats overseas."

April 6, 2020

Banks explains the Insurrection Act in HowStuffWorks article

"The Insurrection Act may be invoked only following an invasion, insurrection or widespread domestic violence," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "Only if states attempt to leave the Union would state defiance enable Insurrection Act authority. Otherwise the states control their citizens' health, welfare and safety."

April 1, 2020

Banks writes about martial law and the pandemic in The Atlantic

"If martial law were invoked, the government would be conducted ad hoc by the president or a military commander based entirely on his or her opinion of what was needed to meet the emergency, unbound by any laws and with no transparency or public participation, and probably no accountability afterward," writes William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. 

March 27, 2020

Explore by:

Communications and Media Relations Office
200 Eggers Hall