Schar School Faculty Media Mentions

Schar School associate professor Gregory Koblenz depicts as both symbolic but also impactful two recent efforts by both government and human rights organizations to hold the Syrian government accountable for its use of chemical weapons. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons passed a proposal to prevent Syria from acquiring the materials used to make chemical weapons. The proposal also calls for providing technical and legal support to efforts to prosecute the use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world. On the same day, 16 human rights and survivor organizations unveiled a separate proposal to create an international tribunal in which to prosecute parties accused of using chemical weapons.

Schar School professor Terry Clower suggests that Maryland has only a marginal initial advantage in efforts to retain the Washington Commanders, who have announced their intention to find a new stadium. Although Maryland already has designated land and an apparatus to provide public funding, the selection of a site for a new stadium will largely come down to the availability of public funding in the DMV region. Clower posits that the final decision will have more of a reputational impact than a financial one.

Schar School Visiting Professor Bill Bolling, who cast a record-setting number of tiebreaking votes while serving as Virginia’s lieutenant governor, offers insight into the unique role during a moment of divided government provided to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who just cast her 32nd tiebreaker in the U.S. Senate. With this vote, Harris, in only two-plus years, surpassed the mark set by John C. Calhoun.

Pearlstein blames Congressional gridlock on “political fantasies.”

Mark Katz offers two theories to explain why Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly called for an end to what, in a departure from past practice, he referred to as the “war” in Ukraine. Katz suggests that Putin might recognize the costs of the war and genuinely want to end it; he may also want to incentivize Western governments to stop supporting Ukraine at current levels.

A major story in the Post breaks down all the ways the Senate is designed, intentionally or not, to favor particular populations. In a telling quote, the Schar School’s Jennifer N. Victor confirms it.

A pandemic-era boom has fundamentally changed the face of American home schooling, transforming a group that has for decades been dominated by conservative Christians into one that is more racially and ideologically diverse, a Washington Post-Schar School poll finds.

Voice of America explains how the GOP is hamstrung on a single wedge issue: abortion. The Schar School’s Jeremy Mayer confirms it for the global audience.

Schar School’s Mark N. Katz describes what Russia stands to gain from the rising tensions in the Middle East.

Collecting our thoughts: What were Schar School scholars thinking in October? Clearly, we had a lot on our minds.