Maxwell School News

India's move to use the Indus Waters Treaty as geopolitical leverage “undermines the legal integrity of such treaties,” says Farhana Sultana, professor of geography and the environment. ”These treaty violations and suspensions can have ripple-on deleterious (harmful) effects across and beyond the region for the examples they set,” she says.

More than the immediate rewards, “vacations provide a buffer against chronic stress and inflammation—both of which wreak havoc on the body,” says Brooks Gump, Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health. Vacationing turns off the spigot of stress hormones like cortisol and allows the body to reset, restoring equilibrium, he says.

“We have a lot of legacy systems that really were designed for the Soviet Union still in our arsenal and I think the Army is finally trying to peel them away,” says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

“There have been a variety of efforts since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 to try and remake the U.S.-Russia relationship...Obviously a lot has happened since then and it hasn't worked out that way and from my point of view, the thing that has broken the relationship most of all has been the Russian war against Ukraine which began in 2014,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.

Wildfires driven by climate change contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study. Jacob Bendix, professor emeritus of geography and environment, says he is “dismayed” by the findings but not surprised.

“Donald Trump has come in and has had just a blizzard of executive orders and other kinds of actions that have had serious impact in the federal government, the relations between the major branches of government and have had effects that have trickled down into Syracuse,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“What’s at risk is not just enrollment numbers or university budgets—it’s the future of American innovation and the country’s standing in the world,” says Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology.

“Officials are soliciting advice from experts on pronatalist options. Some involve subsidies for births. This would be a mistake. The better idea is to make in vitro fertilization affordable and accessible,” says Leonard Lopoo, associate dean, chair and professor of public administration and international affairs.

“The uniformed military—from junior enlisted to four star generals—see right through these clowns, from their backstabbing and their inexperience to their cavalier treatment of highly classified information and their bungling policy rollouts,” says Alex Wagner, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

Tariffs are often touted by politicians as a good idea because they contend “that China has not adhered to global trade rules by unfairly subsidizing its manufacturing sector. This view leads people to think that trade is unfair to domestic producers and workers and to see tariffs are justified,” says Mary Lovely, professor emerita of economics.

“We don’t know what the U.S. is doing. We don’t know why they’re doing it, and they seem to revel in the fact that they’re causing trouble, economic pain and consternation all across Europe and the world,” says Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics.

“We see that with Pope Francis when he talked about the environment and taking care of the planet. That's had a pretty profound influence, although he didn't tell people who to vote for or particular agenda items that nations ought to adopt,” says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science.

“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 breach indicates a general need to strengthen safety training measures for government workers who must live and work in a digital age, says Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs. “The danger of this kind of mistake is a challenge across all administrations,” he says.

“Now the Trump administration is claiming this is an attempt to pressure Iran but it's unclear to me, quite frankly, by bombing a port, killing paramedics and port workers, is somehow going to pressure Iran in negotiations,” says Osamah Khalil, professor of history. “If the United States wants to neotiate with Iran, it should negotiate with Iran. There's no reason to be bombing Yemen to do that.”

“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.”

Part of the Mar-a-Lago Accord is essentially the goal to reduce U.S. debt service costs by forcing other countries to exchange existing U.S. bonds for 100-year, low- or no-interest bonds. “This is such an unprecedented idea. This is, in my opinion, the most kind of fantastical part of this,” says Daniel McDowell, Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of International Affairs.

“I think it was simply that across the communist world, they had become really enchanted by Western films. And the main reason that some people point to for this is that in 1960, “The Magnificent Seven,” that film was allowed into the Soviet Union, and it became this instant sensation,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.

Williams Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says chilling student protests risks quieting the country's conscience. Protests might be sometimes-inconvenient or messy, but young people have long provided a valuable values check about what the United States stands for, he says.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our grandmothers,” says University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer. “But I think there’s plenty wrong with our welfare state.”