Maxwell School News and Commentary

Trump's position “allows for competitiveness of Democrats in states where these state bans are still in flux, and where Democrats have the potential to put constitutional amendments up for the voters to vote directly on,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science. “That has been a story that’s been pretty successful so far for Democrats.”

“I think IVF is an issue that hasn't been politicized before and could be one that could get people thinking about the ways that reproductive health is connected to politics and engage them,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean for research. “It may push people to the polls.”

"They [Ukraine] have used naval drones in ways that have been exceptional and not been seen in naval warfare," says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Newsweek that Trump will continue to use his legal difficulties to rile up his MAGA base. However, Reeher adds that it remains to be seen if this will ultimately damage Trump's White House ambitions.

Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs, says the U.N. mission of preventing and ending wars has "become a punchline," citing struggles in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Zaire and Somalia and genocides in Rwanda, Darfur and Iraq.

"Things are going nowhere for Ukraine," says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington Programs. "Wars are no longer won like World War II by taking the enemy’s land, killing their troops and flying your flag over their capital."

Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs, thinks Zelenskyy is in trouble. McFate says Zelenskyy kept pushing NATO countries for increasingly sophisticated weapons on the promise that Ukraine would have a decisive spring offensive. "When the offensive happened, it was summer and failing,'' he says.

Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs, says the disappearance of the submersible underscores the dangers associated with operating in deep water and the recreational exploration of the sea and space, “two environments where in recent past we’ve seen people operate in hazardous, potentially lethal environments,” Murrett tells the AP.

“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.”

If states had adopted liberal policies across the board, University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and her co-authors calculated that 171,030 lives would have been saved in 2019 alone; on the flip side, conservative policies in all states would have led to an additional 217,635 working-age deaths.