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.”

“I think it was simply that across the communist world, they had become really enchanted by Western films. And the main reason that some people point to for this is that in 1960, “The Magnificent Seven,” that film was allowed into the Soviet Union, and it became this instant sensation,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.

“I challenge the notion that there is a tsunami of support for Le Pen on this issue,” says John Goodman, assistant professor of political science by courtesy appointment. “Her appeal has been fast-tracked so it can be heard in the summer of 2026, well before the 2027 presidential election, and significantly faster than a typical criminal case.”

“For 75 years, America’s NATO allies have relied on the U.S. nuclear arsenal to provide for the defense of Europe. This was never a terribly logical policy. The linchpin of the policy was a firm European belief in the steadfast commitment of Washington to the security of Europe. Today, that no longer holds,” says Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.

Robert S. Terrell, assistant professor of history, has written A Nation Fermented: Beer, Bavaria, and the Making of Modern Germany (Oxford University Press, 2024). Terrell traces how brewing practices in Germany’s southern region of Bavaria became associated with the nation as a whole from the late 19th to the end of the 20th century.

“I think there are plenty of people in Greenland who would like to have good and close ties with the United States. But that doesn’t mean they want to be part of the United States. They want independence,” says Renée de Nevers, associate professor of public administration and international affairs. 

“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.

February marked the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a critical moment of instability and uncertainty for many scholars forced to seek new homes and academic communities abroad. Tetiana Hranchak, visiting assistant teaching professor in the Moynihan Institute, reflects on the impact of the war on her academic work and activism.

Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, says that cooperation in Greenland between the U.S. and founding NATO member Denmark is likely to continue but security in that part of the North Atlantic will remain a concern for Trump.

“The way the U.S. is going about it is not inclined to make a ceasefire take place and last. All the pressure at the moment seems to be on the Ukrainians to show that they're willing to settle and that they want peace. But the country that started the war is Russia and its Russia that's on the attack,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.