Maxwell School News and Commentary

Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs, says that from a tactical military standpoint, they were very effective attacks that had dealt a significant blow to Moscow's military machine.

“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.

“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.”

“In a region where democratic backsliding has often been normalized, Bangladesh is attempting a rare and ambitious path forward. But reforms – no matter how visionary – face real resistance from entrenched interests and are fraught with obstacles, both internal and external, that threaten to derail Bangladesh’s progress,” writes Farhana Sultana, professor of geography and the environment.

“I don't think either the Indian or Pakistani governments actually want a war,” says Mona Bhan, Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies. “But neither of them wants to appear weak under any circumstances.”

“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.

“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.”

“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.”

“Africa’s newest state has remained trapped in a cycle of civil unrest and perpetual peace agreements that have not translated into real peace for its citizens. As it stands, all indications are that the fragile peace is in danger, as President Salva Kiir has ordered the house arrest of his rival, Vice President Riek Machar,” says Jok Madut Jok, professor of anthropology.

“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.