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Filtered by: Middle East & North Africa

Williams Discusses Iran’s Denial of a Second Strike on Turkey With DW News

“It's always possible that it could be a rogue missile, however, the Iranians have struck all across the region so rather than isolating their attacks to just U.S. targets and Israeli targets who are conducting the military operations against them, it looks like they've targeted purposefully Turkey as well as all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” says Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.

March 12, 2026

Monarch Quoted in WGRZ Article on the Economic Impact of the Conflict in the Middle East

“It's true that there's a direct feedback into the gasoline prices that people face at the pump. But it's such an important commodity for all of the other production that goes on in our economy,” says Ryan Monarch, associate professor of economics.

March 6, 2026

Murrett Joins CBS News to Discuss the US-Israeli War With Iran

“There's certainly more potential of retaliation. Having said that, their military capabilities overall, which were already somewhat degraded just based upon attacks that have taken place in the last several months, have been degraded even further,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs. 

March 2, 2026

Khalil Discusses the Tensions in the Middle East, Negotiations Between the US and Iran With CBS News

“The Iranians have indicated...that they are willing to have a deal. What they want are their rights to enrich uranium that are guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), that any country who signed on the the NPT has. But the Trump administration is insisting that there be no enrichment at all,” says Osamah Khalil, professor of history.

February 26, 2026

Murrett Talks to Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and 570 WSYR About US-Iran Tensions

“Defining our mission objectives will be key for any use of force again Iran, that is, one which can credibly lead to meeting a strategic end state,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

February 5, 2026

Murrett Speaks With CBS News About US-Iran Relations

“This was a level of killings and suppression which is different in scale from anything we've seen in the last few years of protest movements...and it hasn't really solved any of the underlying problems that exist in Iran, nor the anger that so many of their people have against the regime,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

January 22, 2026

Khalil Discusses Phase Two of the Gaza Peace Plan With CBS News

“We're still not very close to phase two coming into place. Hamas is unlikely to disarm willingly and Israel is not going to be able to disarm them,” says Osamah Khalil, chair of the International Relations Undergraduate Program.

January 5, 2026

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

Belief, Behavior, and Health: Religion as a Social Determinant of Health

Sandra D. Lane

Sandra D. Lane, professor emerita of public health, has written Belief, Behavior, and Health: Religion as a Social Determinant of Health (Routledge, 2025). The book details how religious beliefs across cultures impact health outcomes. It draws from research from the United States as well as Africa and the Middle East. 

October 7, 2025

Sidi Moumen Community Case Study

Md Koushik Ahmed, Chaimaa Abouzaid El Massaoudi, Laila Biri, Youssef El Mezzaoui, Boubker Mazoz, Lydia Rose Andrews, Teioshontathe Herne, Susan Coots, Robert A. Rubinstein, Sandra D. Lane

“Using a Community-Based Cultural Approach to Promote Life Skills and Leadership for Social Determinants of Health in Adolescents From Disadvantaged Communities in Casablanca, Morocco: A Sidi Moumen Community Case Study,” co-authored by Maxwell professors Robert Rubinstein and Sandra Lane, was published in BMC Public Health.

October 7, 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

How Commerce Became Legal: Merchants and Market Governance in Nineteenth-Century Egypt

Omar Cheta

Omar Cheta, assistant professor of history, has written How Commerce Became Legal: Merchants and Market Governance in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2025). The book explores Egypt’s adoption of a new infrastructure of commercial laws and institutions following the country’s opening to private capital in the 1840s. 

September 16, 2025

Khalil Discusses Israel’s Plans for the Future of Gaza With CBS News

“This is not post-war planning. This is a continuation of Netanyahu's war,” says Osamah Khalil, chair of the International Relations Undergraduate Program. “This is what experts like I and many others have warned about for 22 months All of this was about expanding, annexing Gaza and the West Bank and expelling Palestinians.”

August 14, 2025

Williams Quoted in Los Angeles Times Article on the Challenges Trumps Faces in Gaza and Ukraine

Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, says that Trump has advocated for a ceasefire in Ukraine “at the expense of other strategic priorities such as stability in Europe and punishment of Russia through increased aid to Ukraine.”

August 12, 2025

Haq Article on US Airstrikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites Published on MSNBC

“The president is wagering that sending in the U.S. Air Force will once and for all end Iran’s nuclear threat,” says Nayyera Haq, assistant dean for Maxwell's Washington programs.

June 27, 2025

Khalil Discusses the Israel-Iran Conflict and US Airstrikes With KTVU and LocalSYR

The situation is escalating in ways we have not seen before, says Professor of History Osamah Khalil. With Israeli airstrikes, rising tensions in Gaza, and now a strong U.S. military response, the risks are higher than ever. He warns Iran may try to disrupt global oil supply chains, which could have a domino effect. “If that’s the case, we could very rapidly see the global economy collapse.”

June 26, 2025

Murrett Speaks With CBS News, 570 WSYR About the Israel-Iran Conflict and the US

“I would say probably the biggest risk is the duration and the scope of the conflict and the potential that it has for expanding beyond the current parameters in terms of the exchange between the Israelis and the Iranians,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.
June 23, 2025

Haq Article on the Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan Published on MSNBC

“It’s the humanitarian crisis that almost no one wants to talk about despite several global powers exacerbating the civil war and trying to use Sudan for their own advantages,” says Nayyera Haq, assistant dean for Maxwell's Washington programs.

June 12, 2025

Koch Talks to franceinfo About Gulf Sports

“Apart from during the 2022 World Cup, you haven't seen massive ‘Visit Qatar’ campaigns. The country doesn't need to attract tourists, its 200,000 citizens are wealthy and all the infrastructure already exists,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It's very different from Saudi Arabia where a large part of the population suffers from poverty.”

June 5, 2025

Khalil Speaks With CBS News About the New Gaza Humanitarian Aid System

“The director [of the new aid group] has already resigned and there's an interim director in place. And the director who resigned said it was because the attempts to deliver aid could not be done so with a humanitarian purpose, and that shouldn't be surprising. The United Nations is the only major organization on the ground, as well as several other NGOs, that can provide the necessary aid,” says Osamah Khalil, chair of the International Relations Undergraduate Program.

June 3, 2025

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