Maxwell School News

“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.

“The presence of U.S. troops in Mexico will severely and irreparably undermine [President of Mexico] Sheinbaum’s counter-narcotics policies, which are netting results. Crippling the Sheinbaum administration will give rise to an even bigger and stronger enemy south of the border,” writes Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

In order to persuade Trump's loyal MAGA camp to critically question the economy, the country would have to fall into a deep, prolonged recession, according to Christopher Faricy, associate professor of political science. In addition, there is a need for “more uniform reporting” in the media, which attributes the economic crisis to Trump's policies, he says.

“Mamdani’s got to get his ideas realized in policy, and New York is notoriously difficult to govern. It’s arguably the second hardest political job in the United States, after the president. So whatever he’s able to accomplish, it won’t be easy,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“The stress that families are facing throughout the country is tremendous, not knowing how they’re going to feed their families,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

“There's no question there would be some value to having to have some testing of our weapons, especially some of the new developments we've had recently. But it's how you do that and how extensive the testing is something that's open to question,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

“There is no way to disentangle red and blue America without tremendous violence. Additionally, a large and increasingly ignored percentage of Americans hold moderate views,” says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science. “There is no doubt that polarization in America is a problem that is getting worse, but a national divorce is simply not the solution.”

“As a person who has lived on three continents and traveled extensively through three more, and as someone who has thought deeply about the implications of gospel values for both church and world, Leo is well aware that all that he says and does will be examined and parsed for their repercussions,” says Margaret Susan Thompson, professor of history and political science.

“We're on an upward tide in relations for right now, but in general in the long term, I would expect this kind of ratcheting up and down to continue,” says Ryan Monarch, associate professor of economics.

“22.4 million households across America will be disrupted if the benefits are not disbursed on time. And the total impact of the delay in SNAP benefits will ripple throughout the local economy,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

“Immigration attitudes are not immune to strategic electoral thinking and hyper-partisanship,” says Daniel McDowell, Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of International Affairs. “For many Americans, our study shows that the desirability of immigration depends not just on cultural or economic factors, but also whether voters believe migrants have the same partisan preferences that that they do.”

“Let's say a company offshores programming work to India, they would probably be paying a quarter of what they pay here, or even less,” says Devashish Mitra, professor of economics. “So even if the U.S. government taxes them 100% for what they're paying foreigners abroad, it's still going to work out well for the Big Tech companies.”

“Monitoring the nation’s food security status is important in its own right and also because food insecurity is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs. 

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.”

“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. 

“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.

“President Trump is planning—at least he's saying he's going to do this, and he seems to be taking steps towards doing this—to very aggressively use this moment of a shutdown to make further changes in government, to remove more federal workers, to rescind funding that's been appropriated,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“Bavaria is a very agrarian place, even more so at that time,” says Robert Terrell, associate professor of history. Even today nearly half of Bavaria’s land remains devoted to agriculture, and every four years, the Bavarian Central Agricultural Fair coincides with Oktoberfest. 

"In the great global currency debate, market forces have never been more passé and political forces have never been so prominent," writes Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of International Affairs Daniel McDowell.

The book, co-authored by Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of geography and the environment, captures the grim realities faced by food workers alongside the opportunities for solidarity at every point in the system while amplifying the successes and challenges faced by movements to make food work, good work.