Maxwell School News and Commentary

“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.”

“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.

The world is now reaching the point “where it’s kind of the twilight of lived experience, where from this point onwards, D-Day is going to be just a historical event that nobody who participates in commemorations had any personal memory of,” says Alan Allport, Dr. Walter Montgomery and Marian Gruber Professor of History.

"We don’t know every detail about the circumstances of his death today, but it is 100 percent fair to say that Alexei Navalny was killed by Vladimir Putin and the Russian state," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science and director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

“Russia doesn't have real elections most of all because it's basically illegal to be an opposition politician or activist or independent journalist anymore, not just because of manipulating rules at election time,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.

"I think Putin emerges from this significantly weakened," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. "I think if you're a member of the Russian elite or are in fact a member of the Russian population, you're going to look at this and think, 'Wow, a private army just drove on Moscow for most of the day. No one stopped them and they're allowed to leave and no real consequences.'"

Brian Taylor, professor of political science, discusses the war’s progress, the state of the Russian economy, Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, Vladimir Putin’s view of Ukrainian sovereignty and other topics. 

"An excellent place to learn more about the Russian leader [Vladimir Putin] is Syracuse University Professor [political science] Brian D. Taylor’s 'The Code of Putinism'," writes Stuart Anderson, author of the Forbes article.

Anne Mosher, associate professor of geography and the environment, was featured in the Forbes article, "U.S. Government Marshals Resources To Meet Challenges Of Back-To-Back Hurricanes."

Professor Brian Taylor was interviewed for the Forbes article, "New Laws In Russia: People ‘Can Be Imprisoned For Almost Anything’."