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Filtered by: Conflict

Allport Article on Persistent Myths about France’s Maginot Line Published in Foreign Policy

“Contrary to a lot of modern assumptions, it [the Maginot Line] was never expected to defeat a German attack by itself. The point of the Maginot Line was not to stop the boche in their tracks, but to channel any future westward offensive away from the French industrial heartland and toward the Low Countries, particularly Belgium,” writes Alan Allport, professor of history.

December 23, 2025

See related: Conflict, Europe

Murrett Discusses Trump's Order to Blockade Sanctioned Venezuela Oil Tankers With AP News, CBS News

While the strikes on alleged drug boats have raised questions about the use of military force, Trump’s seizure of the tanker and other actions against sanctioned entities are consistent with past American policy, says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

December 22, 2025

Advance Britannia: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1942-1945

Alan Allport

Alan Allport, professor of history, has written Advance Britannia: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1942-1945 (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2026). The book is a sequel to Allport’s 2020 work Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941 (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2020).

December 18, 2025

See related: Conflict, Europe

Taylor Quoted in LA Times Article on Europe’s Alarm Over Trump’s Approach to Ukraine

“If the U.S. stops even doing that—and it would be quite a radical policy change if the U.S. is unwilling even to sell weapons to European countries—then Europe will have to continue on the path it is already on, which is to bolster its own defense production capacity,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

December 15, 2025

Murrett Speaks With CBS News About Russia's Position on the Peace Proposal With Ukraine

“I think the big resistance that will probably come out of the Kremlin will have to do with some of what they always describe as the underlying conditions, which is security guarantees for Ukraine, but some way precluding them from joining the NATO alliance, and also some ambiguous language regarding their joing the European Union,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.
December 8, 2025

Taylor Discusses the Talks Between Top US Officials and Ukrainian Delegation on LiveNOW from FOX

“I think the fundamental problem remains, that Vladimir Putin wants to subjugate and control Ukraine and Ukraine wants to stay independent and sovereign and make its own political choices. So it's really hard to see a meaningful deal coming out of this,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Insititute of Global Affairs. 

December 1, 2025

Allport’s Book ‘Advance Britannia’ Reviewed in the London Sunday Times

“There is no silly sensationalism in this book, merely sound storytelling and measured judgments. The author writes of ‘that particular German approach to war-making in the first half of the 20th century—tactical ingenuity in the service of strategic vacuity,’ writes Max Hastings, book critic for The Sunday Times.

November 10, 2025

See related: Conflict, Europe

Review: African Witchcraft and Global Asylum Seeking: Border-Crossing Beliefs

Fethi Keles

Part-time instructor of anthropology Fethi Keles's review of the book African Witchcraft and Global Asylum Seeking: Border-Crossing Beliefs, written by Katherine Angela Luongo, was published in the International Journal of Refugee Law.

October 15, 2025

See related: Conflict, Refugees

Khalil Quoted in PolitiFact Article on President Trump’s Speech in Israel

Osamah Khalil, professor of history and expert on the modern Middle East, says it’s untrue that Obama or Biden “held a personal animus toward Israel, especially Biden. Indeed, both administrations oversaw expansions in U.S. military assistance and coordination with Israel.”

October 13, 2025

Taylor Weighs In on the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on Russian Demographics

“Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine is greatly damaging Russia’s future, with the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers at the front and the emigration of some of Russia’s best and brightest young people,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs. 

October 10, 2025

Williams Piece on the Strategic Insights from a China–Taiwan Wargame Published in War on the Rocks

“The invasion scenarios that dominate U.S. military planning—involving massive amphibious assaults on Taiwan and preemptive strikes on American bases—may fundamentally misread Beijing’s calculus,” writes Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.

October 7, 2025

Griffiths Article on a National Divorce in America Published in The Hill

“The truth is that a national divorce would require a dangerous unmixing and re-sorting of Americans. Imagine trying to draw a new map that is coherent yet still satisfies the greatest number of people,” writes Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science.

September 26, 2025

Williams Featured in t-online Article on NATO, Russia’s Airspace Violations

“The situation is very serious indeed. We have been observing airspace violations by Russia for years. But what Putin is doing now has a new quality. He is testing how resolutely NATO reacts and whether weaknesses are emerging,” says Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.

September 24, 2025

Khalil Quoted in HuffPost Article on World Leaders Recognizing a Palestinian State

“Unless the decision is followed by a renewed and robust peace negotiations that bring an end to Israel’s war in Gaza as well as the settlement and annexation policies in the occupied West Bank, recognition will be too little and far too late,” says Osamah Khalil, chair of the International Relations Undergraduate Program.

September 22, 2025

Griffiths Speaks With HuffPost About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Call for a National Divorce

The “idea that irreconcilable differences justify secession ignores the violent history of such efforts, including the Civil War, and overlooks the reality that Americans are deeply intermixed—politically, geographically and ideologically,” says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science. 

September 18, 2025

Bhan Speaks With rabble.ca About Jammu and Kashmir’s Chenab Bridge

In the rush to develop Kashmir, Professor of Anthropology Mona Bhan explains, the government and developers lost sight of the region’s geological stability. In an active seismic zone with increasing investment into what she calls “an infrastructure dump”, the colonization of Kashmir is actually adding geological pressure onto an already volatile region. 

September 16, 2025

Taylor Speaks With CBS News About Poland Shooting Down Russian Drones in Its Airspace

“Poland is a NATO member state. The United States is a member of this alliance and Poland is asking for consultations among the alliance. Several other countries sent aircraft to help down some of the drones. So this is at least a potential escalation here in the war beyond the Russia-Ukraine war,” says Brian Taylor, professor of politcal science.

September 10, 2025

Cleary Weighs In on Trump’s Deployment of Troops Domestically in HuffPost Article

“It is something that is done in other democracies when it really, really has to be done. It’s never ideal, and it should only be done in the U.S. or in any other democracy when it’s a true emergency, when there’s no other solution, and it should always be temporary,” says Matt Cleary, associate professor of political science.

September 2, 2025

A Summer of Scholarly Pursuits: Lauren Woodard Explores the Politics of Migration

Woodard, assistant professor of anthropology, recently traveled to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and to major cities in South Korea to examine the war’s impact on migration patterns throughout Europe and Asia.

August 27, 2025

Taylor Speaks With CBS News, LiveNOW from FOX About Putin, Russia’s Attacks on Ukraine

“He [Putin] continues to launch missle and drone attacks, and military attacks continue along the front line. So Putin is really betting on a military solution, not a political one, despite all of the talks that took place over the last week,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

August 26, 2025

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