“Trump’s contention that Ukraine’s hope of joining NATO ‘caused the war to start’ is a claim that is often made, but one that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. “Given that there was no serious prospect of Ukraine joining NATO between 2008 and 2022, it’s hard to see how Ukraine’s hope of joining NATO at some point in the future caused the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.”

The scholarships, now in their 36th year, were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the students studying in London and Florence through Syracuse University who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“What oil was to the 20th century, rare earth minerals are to the 21st,” says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs. “Microchips, green technology, and quantum computing all require rare earths, and China has the bulk of them. It's a national security imperative that goes beyond the stock market.”