Schar School News January 2022

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (January 2022)

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:54:23 +0000

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (January 2022) Andrew J Schappert Mon, 01/31/2022 - 09:54

In This Story

From the Hill:

Desperately Needed: 21^st Century DOD Budget Process

It takes me up to 40 hours to cover the basics, and—despite best intentions (and I hope good teaching)—the complexity of the system leaves bright and intelligent DOD managers confused and frustrated. Congress is right: Something needs to be done. But what?

—Ronald Marks

From the Diplomat:

Is Taiwan’s International Space Expanding or Contracting?

Of course, Beijing was waiting to pounce on the opportunity to snatch one more formal ally away from Taiwan.

—Gerrit van der Wees

From the Washington Post:

Youngkin’s Use of Executive Orders to Appease the GOP Base Comes with Many Downsides

Manifestly political executive orders and executive directives can exist in a sort of legal limbo and create administrative quagmires, as Youngkin has already learned.

—Mark J. Rozell

From Small Wars Journal:

ISIS or al-Qaeda: Which Looms as the Greater Threat to Global Security?

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, however, has complicated the ISIS-al-Qaeda conflict.

—Mahmut Cengiz

From RealClear Energy:

Innovation Uptake: The Final Frontier for Energy Policy

President Biden announced to the world at November’s climate summit in Glasgow that “the United States is back.” Clean energy innovation uptake policies are vital to turn that promise into a reality.

—David M. Hart

From the Tampa Bay Times:

Why Secret Searches for Florida University Presidents Are Just a Bad Idea

We have yet to identify any empirical evidence that supports the claim that “secret searches” result in hiring the best candidates—and we’ve been studying this for 10 years.

—Judith Wilde and James Finkelstein

From the Washington Post:

Can Glenn Youngkin Change the Way Republicans Run in Virginia?

The Youngkin model, however, isn’t a cure-all prescription for future success. It is of little or no use in some races, particularly in the Deep South where unfailing allegiance to Trump is sufficient to win both the GOP nomination and, perhaps, the fall election.

—Mark J. Rozell

From the National Interest:

Could a Democratic China Supplant America’s Role in the World?

Still, I can’t help but wonder: What if Garside is right and China does undergo a surprising democratic transformation? This has happened, after all, in numerous countries already. So, democratization happening in China cannot be ruled out.

—Mark N. Katz

From the Detroit Free Press:

University of Michigan May Have to Pay Fired Schlissel to Keep Him Off Campus

At least for our public universities, we believe it is time for legislatures and governing boards to put an end to what we’ve called platinum parachutes for university presidents. When presidents part ways with their university, they should not pass go and should not collect $2 million.

—Judith Wilde and James Finkelstein

From the Hill:

Republicans, COVID, and the Rise of ‘Militant Ignornance’

Sen. Moynihan became indignant. “In my office, we do not criticize ignorance,” he said. “Most people who are ignorant can’t help it. They had no opportunity to learn.”

—Bill Schneider

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

A Better Way to Increase Faculty Diversity

Finally, universities should award funding to their colleges and departments based on those programs’ success in recruiting, retaining, and promoting Black faculty members.

—Tameka Porter and Mark J. Rozell

From the National Interest:

Why America Should Rejoin UN Peacekeeping Missions

In fact, neglecting such a need will lead to greater international instability, along with the likelihood of increased mass migration and ideological extremism.

—Arslan Malik

From Small Wars Journal:

Field Report: Security in Tamaulipas Today—Simulated Peace

The number of homicides and crimes has remained at extremely high levels to date and kidnappings and extortions by organized crime continue, often acting in collusion with the authorities.

—Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, et. Al

From the Atlantic Council:

Iran’s New President Just Met with Vladimir Putin in Russia. What to Make of It?

Thus, the Putin-Raisi summit seems to have been less about the expansion of Russian-Iranian cooperation and more about its resumption.

—Mark N. Katz

From the Hill:

Is Putin Calculating Correction on Ukraine?

If this is how he thinks, Putin’s calculations about America and the West being unwilling to fight over Ukraine are undoubtedly accurate.

—Mark N. Katz

From the Center Square:

U.S. Natural Gas is Critical to Strengthening America’s National Security

The U.S. is blessed with abundant natural gas and oil. Soaring energy costs for our allies require policies that support—not hinder—the safe and responsible production, transportation, and export of American natural gas.

—Richard Kauzlarich

From the Hill:

Why Our Parties Can’t Govern

Since the 1960s, liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats have gone the way of the dodo bird. They have become nearly extinct in their native habitats (liberal Republicans in the Northeast, conservative Democrats in the South).

—Bill Schneider

From the Washington Post:

The Year in Virginia Politics and Policy

The Republican sweep of the offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general and the GOP winning a majority in the House of Delegates show that Virginia is politically in the mainstream of American politics, a state dominated by moderates who punish perceived excesses toward the left or the right.

—Mark J. Rozell

From American City and County:

How the Past Informs the Future: 12 Predictions for 2022

As an optimist I believe this is a great opportunity to continue to move towards the digital transformation of government and provide the time for strategic planning and action. This is the time to work on making government more resilient and future friendly.

—Alan R. Shark

From World Politics Review:

Yemen’s Small Islands Hold Major Strategic Value

Ravaged by over seven years of war, Yemen continues to witness escalating violence as 2022 begins.

—Jon Hoffman

From NACLA:

In Guatemala, Ex-Paramilitaries Face Trial for Wartime Rape of Indigenous Women

The accused—all former members of the Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PAC), paramilitaries created by the Guatemalan army—likely did not imagine that the women survivors would successfully recuse that judge.

—Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada

From the New Arab:

A Volatile Year Ahead for Energy Markets in the Middle East

Meanwhile, in energy-importing MENA economies, energy prices are expected to be consistently high and the global supply chain is likely to be disrupted, causing increasing pressures on consumer prices.

—Omid Shokri

From the Hill:

VP Dilemma: The Establishment or the Base?

Biden has promised to name a Black woman to the Court. He could name Vice President Kamala Harris.

—Bill Schneider

From the National Interest:

Has America’s Influence in the Middle East Really Declined?

Many of those who decry the loss of American influence in the Middle East point to the rise of Russian influence there. But compared to the past, Russia’s comeback is not all that impressive.

—Mark N. Katz

From American City & County:

Time for Strategic Up-Reach—Battling the Real Problem with IT Governance

It’s all too easy to ignore the need to upgrade legacy equipment and fortify cybersecurity defenses. It appears that the old mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” still exists.

—Alan R. Shark

From Responsible Statecraft:

Counter-Revolutionary? A Deeper Look at Israel’s Relationships with Arab Autocrats

Despite the rhetoric espoused by its leaders, Israel has opposed democratic transitions in the Middle East and benefits from the region’s lack of democracy.

—Jonathan Hoffman

Topics

Schar School News January 2022

Study: Correcting the Discrepancy Among Races and Live Kidney Transplants

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 19:21:34 +0000

Study: Correcting the Discrepancy Among Races and Live Kidney Transplants Andrew J Schappert Wed, 01/26/2022 - 14:21

In This Story

Naoru Koizumi

Naoru Koizumi: NSF study aims to correct racial disparity in access to live-donor kidney transplants.

“Life after a kidney transplant is so much better than being on dialysis,” said Naoru Koizumi, a professor and the associate dean of research at the Schar School of Policy and Government. “But minority patients—particularly black Americans—don’t have equal access to transplants.”

It is also crucial, she added, that transplanted kidneys come from living donors, where there is survival time of over 15 years. Kidneys from living donors add 5 to 7 years with a higher quality of life to the recipient.

“That’s why we want to give living donor transplants to as many patients as possible,” said Koizumi. “African Americans are particularly the ones that don't get to be on a transplant list.”

Minorities are at a disadvantage when it comes to live kidney access for many reasons, including cost, insurance, and location. Where you live is an important factor as to when and what type of kidney transplant is available—and traveling great distances to be higher on a waiting list of recipients can be cost prohibitive, particularly for those living in underserved regions.

Working with transplant programs at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, Koizumi leads a ��AV-led team hoping to create an algorithm to identify the optimal ways to increase live donor transplant access for minority patients, particularly those from low socioeconomic black communities.

In other words, Koizumi leads a team of medical and data researchers to correct the racial discrepancy of live kidney transplants.

The three-year study, “Collaborative Research: SCH: Optimal Desensitization Protocol in Support of a Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) System,” is funded by the National Science Foundation. Koizumi serves as the principal investigator overseeing the $996,766 grant, $677,361 of which funds Mason’s involvement.

Joining Koizumi are Professor Chun-Hung Chen and Assistant Professor Hadi El-Amine from Mason’s Volgenau School of Engineering. Both teach systems engineering and operations research. Researchers at the University of Maryland and the University of Louisville are also contributing to the study.

For Koizumi, the topic of organ transplants has interested her since early 2000, when she was studying for her first doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on geographic disparity in health care access. But it was while earning her second doctorate in environmental and preventative medicine at Japan’s Hyogo College of Medicine studying end-stage renal and liver diseases that she encountered the issue of race and class among kidney transplants in the U.S.

During that time, Koizumi met two kidney surgeons, both of them black, at the George Washington University Hospital Transplant Institute and Howard University “who taught me a lot about racism in medicine and their own personal discrimination experiences during medical training,” she said: GWU’s Joseph Keith Melancon and Howard’s Clive O. Callender, last year’s Pioneer Award recipient from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the first black transplant surgeon in the U.S.

They became mentors who “taught me a lot about the racial disparity in access to kidney transplants.”

Once the study is complete in 2025, programs can be designed locally—Koizumi is working with patients in Washington, D.C.’s Wards 6 and 7—and then nationally by promoting kidney-paired donation (KPD), which allows “donor swapping” among incompatible donor-patient pairs in the Washington, D.C., region.

International impact, she said, “is not out of the question. There’s a lot of potential in that.”

Topics

Schar School News January 2022

Research

Kidney Transplants

Mason Momentum

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

TTIP

Tech Talent Investment Program

Ukraine crisis part of a broader end game for Putin, Mason professor says

Colleen Rich — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:57:43 +0000

Ukraine crisis part of a broader end game for Putin, Mason professor says Colleen Rich Wed, 01/26/2022 - 11:57

In This Story

Richard Kauzlarich

Richard Kauzlarich. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Cold War with the United States never ended, said Richard Kauzlarich, a distinguished visiting professor at ��AV.

And that is what makes the current crisis in Ukraine, against which Russia has amassed 100,000 troops, so dangerous.

“This is something Putin created himself, and he’s not approaching it with real policy objectives you can negotiate with or deal with,” said Kauzlarich, who from 1991 to 1993 was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European Affairs, with responsibility for relations with the former Soviet Union and economic ties with the European Union.

Putin wants NATO to declare it will not allow Ukraine to become a member. But Kauzlarich and others point out that such a declaration would be in direct opposition to NATO’s traditional open-door policy.

“So, could we say, ‘Well, we understand Ukraine isn’t really ready to join NATO and therefore we’re going to shut that door?’" Kauzlarich said. “I don’t think that solves anything. [Putin’s] game is bigger than that.”

What is Putin’s end game?
“He wants to reverse what he sees as U.S. and NATO victories, if you will, during that period immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Kauzlarich said. “Another element is whether he wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union. He certainly wants to reconstitute Russian presence in a much stronger way in those former Soviet republics. So this may be the opportunity to do just that.”

Why now?

“I think Putin believes he has an advantage over Biden,” Kauzlarich said. “He sees the U.S. weakened by the internal political differences that have affected our political system. People are distracted by COVID. Maybe he thinks the U.S. would be too concerned about China to care wat he might have in mind for Ukraine. I don’t know whether he believes Ukraine is going to join NATO or not. I just think he’s a tactician. He tries to take advantage of any opportunity, and he saw one here.”

Do you foresee U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine?

“If there is an attack on Ukraine, NATO would respond,” Kauzlarich said. “It may not be with troops in Ukraine, but there are any number of ways the U.S. and its allies can get Russia’s attention. My guess is there would be economic sanctions. There are measures we can take against the leaders of Russia that won’t affect the people of Russia. We’re doing assistance to the Ukraine military that could expand, as well as strengthening weaker allies of the alliance like the Baltic states, in particular.”

Is the crisis an existential threat to NATO?

“I really don’t think so,” Kauzlarich said. “It’s had the opposite affect from what Putin wanted. For goodness sake, you have people in Finland and Sweden talking about joining NATO. That’s the last thing the Russians would want is to have neutral countries on their border join NATO.”

So how will this play out?

"At a minimum, we’re looking at a continuing crisis with Russia over Ukraine,” Kauzlarich said. “[Putin] may want to move out into Ukraine further, solidify control on Donbas and that’s it.”

Kauzlarich said he’s not sure that would lead to a full-blown invasion. “It will be less direct, and we’ll have some collateral activities where Putin will try to show the U.S. and our allies that he can reach out and touch us as well. By that I mean cyber attacks on vulnerable U.S. infrastructure. He may try to do more joint military exercises with China,” such as through cyber attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

Richard Kauzlarich, who served as U.S. ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1997-99, and to Azerbaijan from 1994-97, can be reached at rkauzlar@gmu.edu.

For more information, contact Damian Cristodero at 703-993-9119 or dcristod@gmu.edu.

About George Mason
��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility.

Topics

Tip Sheet

Russia

global politics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School News January 2022

Recap: U.S. Backslide on Abortion Rights Is a Grave Danger to Democracy

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:55:14 +0000

Recap: U.S. Backslide on Abortion Rights Is a Grave Danger to Democracy Andrew J Schappert Tue, 01/25/2022 - 13:55

An informative, insightful, and often impassioned virtual discussion about two of the country’s hot-button topics—abortion rights and the attack on democracy—held earlier this month and co-hosted by the Schar School and Ms. Magazine has been recapped by the magazine.

See the full video of the hour-long panel discussion, as well as read the full transcript, as presented by Ms. Magazine.

Topics

Abortion

Democracy

Panel Discussion

Schar School News January 2022

Don’t Look Up? MPA Student Krystal Azelton Does Just That—to Keep Space Safe

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 19:42:00 +0000

Don’t Look Up? MPA Student Krystal Azelton Does Just That—to Keep Space Safe Andrew J Schappert Mon, 01/24/2022 - 14:42

Master’s in Public Administration student Krystal Azelton works to keep outer space sustainable.

You don’t think of outer space as a place that requires measures to maintain its sustainability. But it does, and Master’s in Public Administration student Krystal Azelton is busy at work trying to see that space “remains usable, peaceful, safe, and secure for the long term.”

Azelton serves as director of space applications programs for the Secure World Foundation, a Colorado-based nonprofit with offices in Washington, D.C., that acts, according to its website, as “a research body, convener, and facilitator to promote key space security and other space-related topics and to examine their influence on governance and international development.”

About a dozen employees at Secure World Foundation advocate for a domain with no inhabitants other than the increasing number of “space tourists” and the astronauts orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station (ISS).

Which is a case in point: In December, the ISS had to swerve to avoid a collision with debris from a U.S. rocket. This followed the postponement of a spacewalk that sent ISS astronauts scurrying for cover as hundreds of thousands of uncatalogued pieces of debris headed their way. That incident was blamed on a Russian rocket that intentionally destroyed a Russian satellite; NASA condemned the action.

See? Space needs an agency like Secure World Foundation, the only U.S. nonprofit focusing on space sustainability, Azelton said.

Azelton says her career path became more down to earth, so to speak, when at age 17 “I came to understand I was probably not going to be an astronaut.”

After earning an undergraduate degree at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, she performed political development work in Sudan and Afghanistan, among other locales. While she enjoyed politics, space continued to appeal to her.

“I like science, but I didn’t want to be a scientist. I like learning about science and reading about it but I didn’t want to be in a lab,” she said.

Her interests brought her to NASA, where she was able to combine her government and project management skills while exploring space—specifically, the politics of it. That led to her current position at Secure World Foundation, where she represents global space issues to policy makers.

Just as she decided to earn a master’s degree in public administration, which is a degree that focuses on developing leadership and organizational skills, the pandemic locked out students from classrooms. The silver lining? She usually travels 30 to 60 percent of the time for her job, she said, and COVID-19 kept her at home to study.

When classrooms reopened, Azelton was all too happy to attend in person: “I want to know my fellow students and meet my teachers… I’ve been pleased with how [administrators] have been able to accommodate my schedule.”

Once she graduates, the master’s degree will help her reach her next level of professional success while also creating a drive to “learn more and explore more in depth” what she’s learning in the classroom.

Bottom line for her: “The Schar School is a good fit for me. And it’s an excellent value for the money, to be honest.”

Topics

Master’s in Public Administration

Schar School News January 2022

Science

Space

Sustainability

A Schar School Panel Addresses ‘Abortion Rights and/or Democracy?’

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 17:13:41 +0000

A Schar School Panel Addresses ‘Abortion Rights and/or Democracy?’ Andrew J Schappert Wed, 01/12/2022 - 12:13

The spring semester at the Schar School of Policy and Government begins with a timely and important discussion about two major hot button issues facing policymakers in 2022—women’s reproductive rights and the assault on American democracy.

The program, Are Abortion Rights Essential to Democracy?, is sponsored in part by Ms. Magazine and hosted by the Schar School’s Gender and Policy Center (GAP). The hour-long webinar takes place on Friday, January 21, at 1 p.m., and is open to the public.

GAP Director Bonnie Stabile co-moderates the discussion—followed by questions from spectators—with Ms. contributing columnist Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, who is also Women and Democracy fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice.

The conversation comes at a divisive time in American culture. “As women across the country face the prospect of having their constitutional rights and reproductive autonomy curtailed,” said Stabile, “this panel will consider the question of whether and how reproductive autonomy has bearing on representative democracy, as well as tackling broader questions of justice and equity.”

Among other topics, experts from the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program and the University of California, Irvine, will discuss the implications of Texas abortion law SB 8 and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case which has the Supreme Court considering the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that directly challenges the precedent of Roe v. Wade.

Panelists for the program include Michele Goodwin, Chancellors Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine, and host of the podcast On the Issues with Michele Goodwin; Madiba Dennie, counsel at the Brennan Center for Democracy program; and Elizabeth Hira, Spitzer fellow and policy counsel at the Brennan Center Democracy program.

Dennie and Hira have written about the danger of criminalizing pregnancy outcomes and how the Texas and Mississippi laws that now threaten Roe are part of a long history of regulations controlling women in the U.S., including laws governing property, marriage, and reproductive rights.

Co-moderator Weiss-Wolf, a menstrual equity advocate and author of the book Periods Gone Public, has expressed that a lack of menstrual literacy on the part of mostly male policymakers has led to laws such as the Texas six-week ban, which prevents abortion when most women are unaware that they are pregnant; it also promotes faulty scientific interpretation using the "fetal heartbeat"-moniker for the bill.

Are Abortion Rights Essential to Democracy? takes place on Friday, January 21, at 1 p.m., and is open to the public.

Topics

Gender and Policy Center

Schar School News January 2022

Campus News

The Guardian (UK): ‘I Would Have Bought Stock in Zoom!’: Experts on Wisdom (and Regrets) for a New Year of Covid

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 17:15:36 +0000

The Guardian (UK): ‘I Would Have Bought Stock in Zoom!’: Experts on Wisdom (and Regrets) for a New Year of Covid Andrew J Schappert Fri, 01/07/2022 - 12:15

In a roundup of comments from the world’s top infectious disease experts on what has been learned from the pandemic, Saskia Popescu says the crisis has taught her the alarming, counterproductive political nuances of a collective response. Read more.

Topics

Schar School in the Media

Schar School News January 2022

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (December 2021)

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 20:00:10 +0000

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (December 2021) Andrew J Schappert Wed, 01/05/2022 - 15:00

In This Story

From the Cipher Brief:

My Worry for America

Right before the Civil War, we had similar problems. I thought that was finished. Now I know, it’s not.

—Michael V. Hayden

From the Hill:

Bob Dole: Boss, Mentor, and Friend

As I write this, I am reminded that not once did I hear a fellow Senator say anything personally about him that was not kind. Trust me, a rarity then and even more so now.

—Ronald Marks

From WOLA:

Hope Amidst the Darkness: Victims Continue to Press for Justice for Wartime Atrocities in Guatemala

However, ongoing efforts of retired military officials, conservative elites, and members of the oligarchy to block such trials and co-opt the justice system threaten the future of these cases.

—Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada

From the New Arab:

A New Era in Turkey-UAE Ties? Economic Relations Warm as Ideological Tensions Linger

While political differences between the two countries are not expected to be resolved in the short term, the increasing level of economic cooperation emerging from the visit could prevent escalating tensions in the future if it leads to interdependence.

—Omid Shokri

From the Hill:

Vaccine Nationalism and the WTO

Vaccine nationalism involves mostly high-income countries producing, buying and hoarding vaccines for their own domestic use to the detriment of other countries. Because the virus knows no borders, this is ultimately self-defeating because it provides the virus more opportunity to mutate.

—Kenneth Reinert

From the Syndication Bureau:

Recalibrated U.S. Policy Offers Little Hope to Hungry Afghans

This focus on rescuing Afghans presents some moral dilemmas.

—Ellen Laipson

From The Cipher Brief:

The Importance of TEMPEST Standards

It is this technology, when paired with adequate policy, that shields all sorts of classified information from eavesdropping or other forms of interception. It is also this technology which sadly seems to be little known among a rising generation of intelligence officers. That needs to change.

— Master’s in International Security Student Mason Goad

From the Washington Post:

Gov.-Elect Youngkin and the Precarious Matter of Rewarding the Far-Right

Now the stakes are higher. The hardliners believe that Youngkin owes them, and they will not afford him the indulgence he got as a candidate.

—Mark J. Rozell

From The Cipher Brief:

Containment: A Poor Fit for China

However, any American policy predicated on economic decoupling and full-scale militarized containment of China is unlikely to work. The intertwined nature of the U.S.-China economic relationship, growing cost of military acquisitions, and uncertainty of continued U.S. economic growth threatens the viability of an economically separated, military-focused strategy based on outlasting China.

— Master’s in International Security Student Will Nelson

From The Cipher Brief:

Rethinking US-Africa Engagement

As the Biden administration formally creates its African strategy, observers are hopeful that it will include improved engagement that equalizes State Department and U.S. military visibility, confronts authoritarianism, and promotes technological investment on the continent.

— Master’s in International Security Student Winston Favor

From Modern Diplomacy:

New Threats in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Taliban’s Capacity, Tehrik-i Taliban, and ISIS-Khorasan

The Taliban is an example of how it is impossible to win a war against an organization that has a strong military and vast financial resources. On the other hand, security vacuums in Afghanistan have generated a favorable ground for TTP and an ISIS franchise, ISIS-K, to pose a threat to the Taliban, Pakistan, and Western world by engaging in terrorist attacks.

—Mahumt Cengiz, Asma Ul Hussna Durrani, and Andrea Quinn

From the Cipher Brief:

Russia’s Arctic Expansion

The U.S. should focus on joint training exercises and knowledge gathering with partner forces in exchange for funding and support in the event of a conflict over the Arctic.

—Master’s in International Security Student Kieran Madden

From the Washington Post:

The Virginia GOP’s Focus on Education Policy Worked. It May Be Issue No. 1 in the Midterms.

Those issues include how race and sexuality figure into curriculums and what to do about remote learning, pandemic mask mandates and student gender identity in regard to school restrooms.

—Mark J. Rozell

From the Hill:

Despite Everything, Americans’ Opinion on Abortion Hasn’t Changed in 50 Years

If the Supreme Court upholds the Mississippi law and reverses Roe, it is likely to discover a great truth about American politics: Once a right has been established, you can’t take it away without provoking a fierce political backlash. That’s true of gun rights, and it’s true of abortion rights.

—Bill Schneider

Topics

Schar School News January 2022