Maxwell School News and Commentary

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks says the changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process in the bill would increase accountability for abuses of the system and require the FBI to disclose more information to the court.

"Moscow views the Syrian civil war as a foreign-influenced crisis that threatens the broader Middle East region and its interests there and at home," says Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

Professor of Economics Mary Lovely says the rules governing scientists’ ties to Chinese research institutions are murky and sometimes lead prosecutors to charge people who have made innocent mistakes. "People can stumble into things inadvertently. The rules have to be very clear and if someone violates those clear rules, then you throw the book at them," she says.

"This government will be a mere postponement of conflict if it gives a blind eye to the corruption and grand theft that has created a ghastly and deadly form of inequality in South Sudan since 2005," writes Jok Madut Jok, professor of anthropology.

"Iraq has become a battleground for American and Iranian influence," says Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

"This is an escalation for sure but retaliation, revenge or reprisals are unlawful at international law, not that Iran abides by international law," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "The risks are that the U.S. will play along and some escalatory act will be disproportionate to the circumstances, leading to something far worse," he adds.

"We would hope now is that cooler heads will prevail within the Trump administration that can reason with the President that the time is now for negotiations rather than further escalation," says Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

The killings of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy Chairman of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, "were a dangerous and ill-advised escalation by the United States," Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history and Middle East expert, told USA Today. " Khalil also talked to other outlets about this development, stating that "Their deaths will make it more difficult to resolve the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran and will only destabilize Iraq further."

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks said congressional action regarding FISA could further insert politics into a process that should be free of it. "All the politics that surrounded the headlines of this story would rear their ugly head again," he says. "It could end up with more amendments to FISA that do more harm than good."