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Maxwell School News and Commentary

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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

Thompson Quoted in Associated Press, NPR Articles on Pope Leo’s US Citizenship

Margaret Susan Thompson, professor of history and political science, says she doubts Leo will renounce his U.S. citizenship. “I think he wants to stress that he is the pope of the universal Catholic Church,” Thompson says, “and not an American holding that position.”

June 4, 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

Yingyi Ma Weighs In on Trump Admin’s Move to Revoke Chinese Students’ Visas in NPR, WSJ Articles

“The economic costs are apparent,” says Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology. “The talent cost has even graver consequences.”

June 2, 2025

Offen Quoted in Politico Article on Trump’s Obsession With Maps

It’s a political tactic that has lasted as long as maps have, according to Karl Offen, professor of geography and the environment. “Maps and politics have been wedded from day one,” Offen says. “To name is to claim.”

May 30, 2025

Buzard Discusses Her Research on Parental Involvement With The Atlantic

Research by Kristy Buzard, associate professor of economics, confirms the idea that people tend to assume mothers are the default parent, even when they explicitly ask not to be. Part of the reason, Buzard posits, is “this underlying belief that moms are more available and are going to be more responsive.”

May 29, 2025

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.”

May 28, 2025

Sultana Article on Building Democracy in Bangladesh Published in LA Progressive

“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.

May 27, 2025

Bhan Talks to Morning Wave in Bhusan and the WOZ About Rising Tensions Between India and Pakistan

“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.”

May 23, 2025

Reeher Discusses Trumps ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on LiveNOW from FOX

“There's going to be an enormous amount of pressure on the Republicans to stay together on this. More than anything else that any Republican who's serving in Congress right now will face, because this is going to be Donald Trump's signature domestic bill,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

May 22, 2025

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