Maxwell School News and Commentary

Tessa Murphy, assistant professor of history, has been awarded a long-term fellowship from the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Murphy’s current book project, "The Creole Archipelago," traces British and French attempts to assimilate or remake colonial societies that evolved beyond the boundaries of European empire in the early modern Caribbean.

Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations, explains (former) Mexican President Felipe Calderón's strategy to crack down on drug trafficking organizations was to eliminate drug kingpins. But rather than eliminating the cartels, the capture and death of cartel leaders have led to their members creating smaller organizations.

"The U.S. government’s ties to humanitarian aid to Venezuela are deeply suspect and it’s common knowledge that it’s intended to fast track the military’s defection of current President Nicolás Maduro," writes Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations. "If it truly is to be humanitarian aid, the Trump administration needs to decouple it from its aggressive, militaristic agenda," she adds.

"If history has given us any lesson, it is that the U.S. government should step aside and let the Venezuelan people—with the assistance of multilateral organizations—guide this much-needed opening for democratic change forward," writes Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and the Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.  

There is nothing new here when it comes to putting military officers in charge of a police force. This is the same thing that has been trotted out by other administrations," says Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

Michael Ebner, associate professor of history and expert on the history of modern Europe, Italy and fascism, provides a comparison point for the Republicans' treatment of the Proud Boys.

Created more than three decades ago, the Presidential Management Fellows Program Program is a flagship leadership development program for advanced-degree candidates who, if selected, receive two-year appointments within federal agencies. The program attracts and selects the best candidates possible, particularly those with the greatest potential to become government leaders.

Maxwell alumnus Joseph Strasser ’53 B.A. (History)/’58 M.P.A., one of the Ssool’s most significant donors of all time, received the prestigious 2018 Arents Award, Syracuse University’s highest alumni honor. When accepting the award, Strasser spoke about his time in Germany and his philanthropic commitment to education and the welfare of animals.