This week, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution to authorize U.S. missile strikes against Syria, in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad allegedly using chemical weapons against the nation’s own citizens in an attack on Aug. 21. The full Senate and also the House of Representatives are expected to debate a possible military strike beginning next week.
The following University of North Texas faculty members are available to discuss topics related to this continuing story:
Dr. James Meernik is a professor of political science and a faculty member in UNT’s Peace Studies program. Meernik 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. J. Michael Greig is an associate professor of political science and also a faculty member in the Peace Studies program who 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. 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 idean@unt.edu or at his office at 940-565-2317.
Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of the University of North Texas 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 Best. 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.
Dr. Jacqueline DeMeritt, assistant professor of political science, researches human rights, violent political conflict and state-sponsored killings. She has published articles in Journal of Conflict Resolution and Civil Wars, among other journals, and recently published an opinion piece, “Military Intervention, Syrian Soldiers and Civilians,” on the website PoliticalViolenceataGlance.org.
DeMeritt may be reached in her office at 940-565-2283 or at jdemeritt@unt.edu.
Dr. Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha and Dr. Philip Paolino are both associate professors of political science and American politics scholars who will discuss the Congressional debate on possible military action against Syria.
Eshbaugh-Soha is the co-author of Breaking Through the Noise: Presidential Leadership, Public Opinion and the News Media and The President’s Speeches: Beyond “Going Public.” He has published research in American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly and Congress and the Presidency and has contributed chapters to Politics in the American States and Public Opinion and Polling around the World.
Paolino has also published articles in American Journal of Political Science and Political Research Quarterly, as well as in Electoral Studies, Political Analysis and Political Behavior.
Eshbaugh-Soha may be reached in his office at 940-565-2329 or at mes@unt.edu.
Paolino may be reached in his office at 940-565-2315, at home at 703-310-7162 or at paolino@unt.edu.