In the News: Brian Taylor
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.
See related: Conflict, Government, International Affairs, International Agreements, Russia, Ukraine, United States
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.
See related: Conflict, International Affairs, Labor, Russia, Ukraine
Failure. Russia Under Putin
Brian Taylor, professor of political science, contributed a chapter to the recently published book Failure. Russia Under Putin (Bloomsbury, 2025). He is one of multiple authors who share their views on Russia’s failures under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.
See related: International Affairs, Russia, United States
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.
See related: Conflict, Europe, Government, International Affairs, NATO, Russia, Ukraine
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.
See related: Conflict, Government, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine
Taylor Weighs In on the Presidential Summit Between Russa and the US in Los Angeles Times Article
“This will be the first U.S.-Russia summit brought about by sheer ignorance and incompetence: The U.S. president and his chosen envoy mistook a Russian demand for a concession,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science and director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.
See related: Conflict, Federal, Foreign Policy, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Weighs In on Trump’s Approach to Aiding Ukraine in Newsweek Article
“The good news for Ukraine is that...Trump has finally figured out that Putin is the main obstacle to peace,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.
See related: Federal, International Affairs, U.S. Foreign Policy, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Talks to AP About CIA Report Criticizing Investigation of Russia’s Support for Trump in 2016
“This report doesn’t change any of the underlying evidence—in fact it doesn’t even address any of that evidence,” says Brian Taylor, director the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs. Taylor suggests the report may have been intended to reinforce Trump’s claims that investigations into his ties to Russia are part of a Democratic hoax.
See related: Federal, International Affairs, Political Parties, Russia, U.S. Elections, United States
Taylor Speaks With Forbes About Quinnipiac Poll Ratings on Trump’s Handling of Russia-Ukraine War
“Among the issues Quinnipiac asked about—immigration, trade, the economy, Israel-Gaza and universities—Trump’s numbers are the worst on Russia-Ukraine, and they also are the worst among Republicans,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.
See related: Federal, International Affairs, Russia, U.S. National Security, Ukraine
Taylor Speaks With CBS News, El País, KTVU and Kyiv Post About Trump, Ukraine and Russia
“Putin isn’t interested in a ceasefire or an agreement, but rather in victory, understood as the subjugation of Ukraine,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. “The Russian president has faced zero consequences for stalling Trump over the past four months, and from what Trump has said about the conversation, that hasn’t changed one bit.”
See related: Conflict, Europe, Federal, Foreign Policy, Global Governance, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Speaks With WWL Radio About US-Russia Relations
“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.
See related: Conflict, Federal, International Affairs, Russia, U.S. Foreign Policy, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Discusses President Trump, Causes of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine With Forbes, USA Today
“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.”
See related: Conflict, Federal, Global Governance, International Affairs, International Agreements, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Talks to CBS News, CNN About the Presidential Phone Calls and the Russia-Ukraine War
“If you look at what the Kremlin put out, based upon the phone call between presidents Trump and Putin, their characterization of it was much more sober and it was clear that Putin reiterated his constant talking points about the need to get to what he calls the ‘root causes’ of the conflict,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.
See related: Conflict, Federal, Global Governance, International Agreements, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Speaks with LiveNOW from FOX and UNITED24 About the Latest With Ukraine
“The way the U.S. is going about it is not inclined to make a ceasefire take place and last. All the pressure at the moment seems to be on the Ukrainians to show that they're willing to settle and that they want peace. But the country that started the war is Russia and its Russia that's on the attack,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.
See related: Conflict, Federal, Foreign Policy, Government, International Agreements, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor Speaks With NPR LA’s ‘AirTalk’ About the Rising Tensions Between Ukraine and Trump
“One thing I would call attention to is that President Trump and Russian President Putin had an hour and a half long conversation last week. And since that conversation Trump has repeated multiple Putin talking points about the war,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.
See related: Defense & Security, Federal, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Taylor’s ‘Russian Politics’ One of Forbes’ Must-Read Books to Understand Russia, the War in Ukraine
“Syracuse University professor Brian Taylor, author of ‘Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction,’ packs a wealth of analysis and interesting facts into a compact book,” writes Stuart Anderson, senior contributor at Forbes.
See related: International Affairs, Russia
Taylor Talks to Newsweek About the US Sending Nuclear Weapons to Ukraine
“In theory, the U.S. could station U.S. nuclear weapons in Ukraine and maintain command authority of them, like it does in several NATO member states,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. “But it's extremely difficult to imagine that happening.”
See related: Conflict, Defense & Security, Government, International Affairs, Russia, U.S. Foreign Policy, Ukraine, United States
Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Professor and Russia expert Brian Taylor offers an up-to-date overview of the key forces that drive Russian politics. This book explores the primacy of the state over society, the role of the “West” in Russian political development, and the effect of the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union on the Russian political and economic system. Published by
Oxford University Press.
See related: International Affairs, Russia, United States
Taylor Comments on Election Interference by Russia in Associated Press Article
“Russia clearly interfered in this election,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science and expert on Russian politics. He says Russia’s objectives were to “help Trump and to sow chaos more generally—although there is no evidence that their activities changed the outcome.”
See related: International Affairs, Media & Journalism, Russia, U.S. Elections, United States
Taylor Speaks With AFP, The Hill and Newsweek About Trump’s Victory, Impact on Ukraine-Russia War
“I can’t imagine Donald Trump rolling up his sleeves and digging into the nitty-gritty of the words of this conflict,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. “That’s not who he is [but] that’s what it takes to bring about ceasefires and peace settlements, lots of detailed, nitty-gritty negotiation on a whole host of issues. It’s not simply tell both sides to stop.”
See related: Conflict, Federal, Russia, U.S. Elections, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. National Security, Ukraine, United States