Maxwell School News and Commentary

The New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network tracks the spread of COVID by detecting the virus in wastewater. David Larsen, professor and chair of public health and lead epidemiologist for the network, says COVID levels in the city’s wastewater were below average. 

“It is something that is done in other democracies when it really, really has to be done. It’s never ideal, and it should only be done in the U.S. or in any other democracy when it’s a true emergency, when there’s no other solution, and it should always be temporary,” says Matt Cleary, associate professor of political science.

“In the situation and climate President Trump has created, it won’t be surprising if both India and China find this a mutually beneficial transaction,” says Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs.

“Americans today may not regard luxury as inimical to republican virtue in the way that they did in 1840. But prolonged inflation or a recession could reawaken those attitudes. In that context, Trump’s tacky and risible affection for gilded moldings and glitzy ballrooms could become a serious political liability,” writes Mark Schmeller, associate professor of history.

“There have also been arguments that DNI (Director of National Intelligence) has grown beyond its original intent. There is always a process of streamlining and covering the priorities effectively, but this doesn’t seem to be an effective way to do it,” says Kristen Patel, Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs.

“It was a useful navigation tool in the 16th century, because it has straight lines, giving navigators a line of constant direction to sail along,” says Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography and the Environment. “But outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it.”

“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.

“India did consider the U.S. an ally,” says Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs. “It was a country that the U.S. was relying on as a counter to China in that region. So it had a huge geopolitical importance, but it doesn’t seem like Trump values any of that.”

“It’s part of what scholars would call the authoritarian playbook—undermining factual information and falsifying things that you know to be true,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.

“After Trump and Putin met for more than two hours Friday, and then praised each other to the media for about 12 minutes, it was clear that Trump, in his rush to meet with Putin, not only risked whatever was left of his image as a dealmaker-in-chief, but he also may have damaged the United States’ image as a global champion for democracy,” writes Nayyera Haq, assistant dean for Maxwell-in-Washington.