U.S. officials have announced that several Arab states have offered to fly airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq alongside the efforts of the U.S. military, and France has sent fighter jets on a reconnaissance mission over Iraq -- taking a step closer to becoming an ally to the U.S. in efforts to defeat Islamic State fighters in Iraq.
The following University of North Texas faculty members will comment on President Obama's plans to establish a broad coalition against ISIS, and the world response.
Dr. J. Michael Greig is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the UNT Department of Political Science and the department chair, and also a faculty member in the Peace Studies program. Greig researches conflict management and international conflict. He is the co-author of International Mediation and has published many articles in Conflict Management & Peace Science, International Interactions, Journal of Peace Research and other professional journals.
Greig may be reached by cell phone at 940-372-0964 or at michael.greig@unt.edu.
Dr. James Meernik, a professor of political science, directs UNT's Castleberry Peace Institute. He researches post-conflict security, transitional justice, U.S. foreign policy and international criminal tribunals. He is the author of The Political Use of Military Force in U.S. Foreign Policy and U.S. Foreign Policy and Regime Instability and co-editor of Conflict Prevention and Peace Building in Post-War Societies: Sustaining the Peace. Meernik is a former associate editor of International Studies Quarterly and has published extensively in that journal and in Foreign Policy Analysis, Journal of Conflict Resolution and other professional journals
Meernik may be reached by cell phone at 940-367-3727 or at james.meernik@unt.edu.
Dr. Idean Salehyan, associate professor of political science and faculty member in the Peace Studies program, is the author of Rebels Without Borders: Transnational Insurgencies in World Politics and articles about rebel organizations in Journal of Conflict Resolution and U.S. asylum enforcement in Journal of Peace Research. He also wrote a book chapter on U.S. asylum and refugee policy toward Muslim nations since Sept. 11, 2001.
Salehyan may be reached at 940-565-2317 or at idean@unt.edu.
Dr. Nancy Stockdale is an associate professor in UNT's Department of History with expertise in contemporary issues facing Middle Eastern nations. She regularly teaches courses about the history of the Middle East and Islam, and is the author of Colonial Encounters Among English and Palestinian Women, 1800-1948. She can discuss a variety of issues about historical and contemporary concerns in the Arab world.
Stockdale may be reached at 940-565-4209 or stockdale@unt.edu.
Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of UNT's Military History Center and a professor of history, is the author of Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East from the Balfour Declaration to the Bush Doctrine. He has written on Middle East security for The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast. Wawro was also a host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business and History versus Hollywood, and has been a commentator on Spike TV's The Deadliest Warrior.
Wawro may be reached via cell phone at 214-514-7224 or at gwawro@yahoo.com.