On Friday, Aug. 8, U.S. fighter jets launched a targeted airstrike against Islamic militants in Iraq, just hours after President Barack Obama announced in a nationally televised address that he was authorizing military action to protect U.S. personnel and Iraqi civilians from the militants, who have captured the city of Sinjar in Northern Iraq.
The following University of North Texas faculty members are available to discuss topics related to this continuing story:
Dr. J. Michael Greig is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the UNT Department of Political Science and also a faculty member in the Peace Studies program. He will be the department's chairman beginning Sept. 1. 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, will be the director of UNT's Castleberry Peace Institute beginning Sept. 1. 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 this weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and all next week, at 940-367-3727.
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 by e-mail only 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.