The State of U.S. Intelligence Post-9/11

The September 11 attacks and the war in Iraq have raised a number of questions about the state of U.S. intelligence. Leading intelligence scholars - featuring a range of academic experts along with representatives from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence - will gather at Williams College on April 12 to offer insights about the future of U.S. intelligence.

Tony Blair Looks East

Every economy in the world is being fundamentally changed by globalization and technological advances, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told an audience at DePauw University. As a result, he said, "The center of gravity is shifting eastward."

News Sources: Cuba after Castro

Fidel Castro's decision to step down as leader of Cuba has reignited debate over U.S. policy that seeks to isolate the communist-led nation. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Gary Prevost - Professor of Political Science, Saint John's University - Prevost is an author and lecturer who has done extensive research into Central and Latin American politics and social movements. His co-edited book Cuba: The Different American is indicative of his in-depth perspective of Cuba.

Louis L. Ortmayer - Professor of Political Science, Davidson College - Ortmayer is a leader in developing the "case" method of teaching political science, and he has written cases on preventive diplomacy in US-Cuba relations and the post-Cold War world.

Dean Hubbard - Professor of Public Policy, Sarah Lawrence College - The holder of the Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy, Hubbard’s expertise focuses on issues of immigrant laborers, and international labor relations, especially in Cuba.

News Sources: Kosovo Declares Independence

Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia has led to dancing in the streets in that country, but is causing some stress in other countries' global relationships. President Bush promptly recognized the new country, while Russia and Serbia will contest the declaration before the United Nations Security Council, saying it would set a troubling precedent. Britain, Italy, France and Germany are expected to recognize Kosovo, while Spain and Cyprus expected to oppose recognition. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on name for contact information):

Thomas Emmert - Professor of History, Gustavus Adolphus College - Emmert is an expert on the history of Kosovo, Serbia, the Balkan states, and Russia. He has written The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat and The Kosovo Legacy. He teaches the European history survey, as well as courses on both Imperial and modern Russia, the Ottoman Empire, 19th century European intellectual and cultural movements, and Balkan nationalism.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta - Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College - Michta's books include The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe. In addition, he has been a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

William M. Rose - Professor of Government, Connecticut College - Professor Rose teaches courses on international relations, U.S. foreign policy, international terrorism, civil wars, and United Nations peacekeeping. During the Cold War, he specialized in U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations.

News Sources: Kenyan Riots

Police battled rampaging youths in western Kenya as ethnic clashes that have left more than 100 people dead in the past four days spread across the country. Tribal violence has killed nearly 900 people there since elections last month. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

The Hon. Joseph Melrose - Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College - Melrose retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2002, after three decades in the Foreign Service, most recently as Ambassador to Sierra Leone, where he helped broker a peace treaty. In the fall of 2006 he served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 61st United Nations General Assembly for the State Department. He also led the Foreign Emergency Support Team, deployed to Nairobi, Kenya in the aftermath of the Embassy bombings, where he helped oversee the reestablishment of Embassy operations and the recovery effort.

Kevin Dunn - Assistant Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Dunn specializes in the politics and development in Africa, theories of international relations and U.S. foreign policy. He has investigated how theory and practice in international relations differ-with particular attention paid to U.S. foreign policy toward underdeveloped nations. Dunn co-edited Africa's Challenge to International Relations Theory.

Eve Sandberg - Associate Professor of Politics, Oberlin College - Sanberg is an expert on contemporary African affairs, political economies of developing nations and international relations. She has given talks for the USIA, Council on African Studies at Yale and Columbia and she edited The Changing Politics of Non-Governmental Organizations and African States.

News Sources: U.S. Warns Iran

A confrontation between three U.S. Navy warships and five Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz almost triggered an exchange of gunfire, and if it happens again there may be a battle, the president's top security aide says. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online a the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on the names for contact information):

Shelley Deane - Assistant Professor Government/Legal Studies - Deane is an expert on the Middle East, security and has negotiated peace agreements involving Israel Palestine, Northern Ireland, the PLO and associated groups. She received has been interviewed by NPR, the AP, the Los Angeles Times and others.

Fawaz Gerges - Professor of Middle East Studies, Sarah Lawrence College - A MacArthur Fellow, Gerges studies Arab politics, militant Islamic movements, the Arab-Israeli peace process and America's relations with the Arab world. He is the author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests? and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He has contributed to major foreign affairs publications and newspapers.

Douglas Stuart - Professor of Political Science/Director of Clarke Center, Dickinson College - Stuart can address American foreign policy, international relations theory, U.S. national security, NATO, U.S. foreign policy decision making, and U.S. defense policies.

News Sources: Putin Goes from Prez to Prime Minister

Vladimir Putin told delegates at the pro-Kremlin United Russia party's convention that he will serve as prime minister if his longtime aide Dmitri Medvedev is elected to replace him as president next March. Some fear such an arrangement may be fundamentally unstable, as a strong figure in that post may create tensions which have already buffeted Russia in its brief democratic history. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Larry Caldwell - Gamble Professor of Political Science, Occidental College - A former visiting professor at the National War College, scholar-in-residence in the CIA's Office of Soviet Analysis, and RAND consultant, Caldwell is an expert on Russian-American relations, Russian politics and military, and arms control who has testified before Senate and House committees.

Michael Hamm - Boles Professor of History, Centre College - Hamm is the author of books on the history of Ukraine and Russia, and he has been a guest scholar in Russia and a university lecturer in Kazakstan. His work has been honored with Fulbright and IREX fellowships.

George E. Hudson - Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - Hudson is a Fulbright Scholar, an authority on the former Soviet Union and modern Russia and the use of the military as an instrument of foreign policy. An adviser to the Department of Defense and a consultant to the National Security Council, he was a member of the U.S. team which negotiated with Soviets for convential arms reductions in 1979.

News Sources: Pakistani Showdown Looming?

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has issued what correspondents say is an ultimatum to President Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule. The demands are: for the state of emergency to be called off; for General Musharraf to stand down as head of the army; and for elections to be held by mid-January. She repeated plans for a rally on Friday, despite an official ban, but authorities have warned that police will not allow the demonstration. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

The Hon. Joseph Melrose - Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College - Melrose retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2002, after three decades in the Foreign Service, most recently as Ambassador to Sierra Leone, where he helped broker a peace treaty. He served as Task Force Coordinator for the post-Sept. 11th task force with the Department of State, and later was a Senior Consultant on Counterterrorism for the Office of the Secretary of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Martha Crenshaw - John E. Andrus Professor of Government, Wesleyan University - Crenshaw has gained an international reputation for her studies of political terrorism. She has testified before Congress and served as a consultant to the Department of State, the U.S. Naval and Army War Colleges, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. She has authored three books, including Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence.

Steven Lee - Professor of Philosophy, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Lee possesses a plethora of knowledge on war and the use of nuclear weapons, including the cultural, psychological, and historical impact of nuclear weapons. He is also a scholar on ethics and critical thinking. Lee received the "Make a Better World Award" by The American Society of Association Executives.

News Sources: European-Russian Summit

Facing international pressure over human rights problems and restrictions of free speech in Russia, Russian president, Vladimir Putin has challenged Europeans to set up a new joint human rights institute to improve dialogue. Putin made the proposal at his last scheduled summit meeting with the European Union leaders as Russian president, as part of an attempt to lower the temperature in a range of disputes with Europe. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org

Andrew A. Michta – Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College - Professor Michta's books include America's New Allies: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in NATO and The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe. He has been a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

Nick Hayes - Professor of History, Saint John's University - Hayes holds a doctorate in Russian and European history. He has published widely in the academic press and appeared in popular press, including “ABC Nightline” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” He won an Emmy in 1991 for his work on Russia.

Roy Ginsberg - Director of International Affairs Program, Skidmore College - An expert on international relations and specifically, the European Community, Ginsberg believes the EC represents the model for post-Cold War Western Europe, and possibly Central and Eastern Europe. He is founder and former chair of the European Community Studies Association.

News Sources: Turkey and the Armenian Genocide Debate

A debate over killings that took place in the World War I era threatens to damage current relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Turkey's top general has warned that ties with the U.S. would be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians to have been genocide. After a House committee approved such a resolution, Turkey - a major cargo hub for U.S. and coalition military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations last week and said it might curtail its logistical support of the U.S. military. Twenty-three other countries have already acknowledged the genocide. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Jennifer Abbassi - Associate Professor of Political Science, Randolph College - Abbassi is an expert on international law and human rights, and is co-editor of an upcoming international law anthology and has done work on the Milosevic trial.

William Felice - Professor of Political Science, Eckerd College - Human rights activist Felice was the representative to the U.N. for the International League for the Rights of Peoples 1986-1992. His research and scholarship focuses on normative issues of rights and justice within our global society. He is the author of Taking Suffering Seriously and The Global New Deal: Economic and Social Human Rights in World Politics.

David Lesch - Professor of History, Trinity University - Lesch is an expert on Middle East and American foreign policy and the author of 1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East. He is a consultant to the U.S. State Department, has traveled across the Middle East to Syria, Jordan and Turkey, and visits the region four or five times a year.

News Sources: Bush's Vietnam Analogy

President George W. Bush has drawn heavy flak from the Democrats with his warning that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would trigger a bloodbath similar to that in southeast Asia after the U.S. retreat from Vietnam. Bush, in an effort to turn on its head the analogy by critics who liken the Iraq war to the Vietnam quagmire, said there was now a legitimate debate in the U.S. about how the superpower was drawn into the Vietnam war, and its damaging exit. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including (click on names for contact information):

Douglas W. Simon - Professor of Political Science, Drew University - A U.S. Air Force intelligence officer in Vietnam, he specializes in the history and popular conceptions of the Vietnam War. Simon is an experts on American foreign policy, national security, intelligence operations, the United Nations, international terrorism, and political violence. He has developed an innovative real-time simulation of the U.S. National Security Council.

Clarence R. Wyatt - Assistant Professor of History, Centre College -Wyatt has conducted research on the social and political aftermath of the war in Vietnam, compared to and contrasted with other modern wars involving the United States. He is the author of Paper Soldiers, which evaluated press coverage of the Vietnam war, and is the leader of a travel-study program in Vietnam.

Tobey C. Herzog - Professor of English, Wabash College - A Vietnam veteran and author of Vietnam War Stories: Innocence Lost, Herzog has spoken around the country on the Vietnam War experience, its effects on American society and culture, and its comparison to other U.S. wars. Herzog recently published a literary biography of acclaimed Vietnam War author, Tim O'Brien.

News Sources: Chill in Japan-China Relations

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a "broader Asia" partnership of democracies that would include India, the United States and Australia but leave out the region's superpower, China. Meanwhile, Tokyo has sought to build closer security ties with the United States, Australia and India, and its navy is due to take part for the first time in joint U.S.-India exercises to be held in the Bay of Bengal next month. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including (click on names for contact information):

David Arase - Associate Professor of Politics, Pomona College - Arase is an expert on the economics, politics and security of Japan and the economic cooperation and regional security relations between China, Japan, Russia, and North Korea. He is the author of Buying Power: The Political Economy of Japanese Foreign Aid.

Frank Gibney - Professor of Politics, Pomona College - One of America's foremost experts on East Asia and Asian/Pacific Affairs, Gibney is founder and president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College and was the producer of the acclaimed PBS series, "The Pacific Century." The author of several books, he is fluent in Japanese and continues to travel throughout Asia.

Bin Yu - Assistant Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - An expert on China's foreign policy, Yu is a fellow at the East-West Center, president of Chinese Scholars of Political Science and International Studies and a faculty associate of the Mershon Center. Yu is also a MacArthur fellow at the Center of International Security and Arms Control and a research fellow at Center of International Studies, Beijing