Public Administration and International Affairs Department News, Media Commentary and Research

According to Professor Emeritus William C. Banks, terrorist groups like ISIS use Trump’s "anti-Islam rhetoric to say that the U.S. is waging war on Islam," but he is not aware of specific incitements or attacks based on the executive order.

The recently announced two-year funding extension will support a total of four additional Robertson fellows. All Robertson fellows receive funding for two years of study, allowing them to pursue one of the joint degrees offered through the Public Administration and International Affairs Department. 

University Professor James Steinberg says that Secretary of State Rex Tillersor "needs to be able to convey to the world that the administration is going to pursue an orderly process in which there is a deliberate thoughtful development of policy that takes various points of view into account." 

Judge Neil Gorsuch will be vetted and reviewed by the Senate, and needs the votes of at least 60 senators to be confirmed. "That requirement is not in the Constitution, but it's one that Congress itself, the Senate has chosen to impose. It's been that way for a long, long time,"  says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs.

According to University Professor James Steinberg, Steve Bannon's formal inclusion in the U.S. national security policymaking process "is such an explicit rejection of the well-entrenched principle that when it comes to matters of national security that politics doesn’t have any place in the room.”

William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says "since 9/11, no one has been killed in this country in a terrorist attack by anyone who emigrated from any of the seven countries," on President Trump's travel ban.

William Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, was quoted in The New York Times article, "Trump Orders a Wall Built, but Congress Holds the Checkbook." In theory, Mr. Trump could order the military to spend extra money to protect national security, then move around the funding within the bureaucracy to pay for a wall built by the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Banks said.

“There seems to be, based on some of the public comments (Trump) has made, a focus on reducing the period over which someone is responsible for loans so that people that can’t afford to don’t have to continue repaying loans for an extended period, although the burden may be higher during the repayment period,” said Michah Rothbart, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs.

“More information cannot easily be provided (to) the public—the classification is required to preserve the secrecy of the sources and methods we used to learn about the hacking,” says William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. “It creates a dilemma that is difficult to resolve.”

The INSCT project—Law and Policy of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles—was awarded $68,248. The project will develop a policy and legal framework that supports the use of various types of unmanned aerial systems throughout the state, while ensuring public safety, protecting civil liberties and promoting industrial growth.