Our Experts in the News

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  1. Harper's Magazine - The Tragedy of Volodymyr Zelensky

    By Michael C. Desch

    In December 2022, Time magazine named the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky its Person of the Year. The reasons seemed obvious: When Russia invaded in February of that year, few thought that Ukraine would survive more than a week, or that its president would remain at his post in Kyiv. But Zelensky, who had been a comedian and actor before his unlikely landslide election victory in 2019, defied Russian airstrikes and mobilized his countrymen, rebuffing Western offers of evacuation: “I need ammunition, not a ride.” His unexpected courage helped to rally Ukrainian forces against Russia’s northern thrust. He also reminded many of the two-time Man of the Year—in 1940 and 1949—Winston Churchill.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  2. The Japan Times - China’s gallium curbs to have limited impact on U.S. defense

    U.S. defense demand, however, accounts for only a fraction of the country’s total demand for these two minerals. This means that if Washington chose to prioritize defense uses of the minerals, “it would likely find enough non-Chinese material to continue defense production,” Eugene Gholz stressed.

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    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  3. Newswise - Notre Dame Professor Says U.S. Military Presence in Strait of Hormuz Should be Handled With Prudence

    Eugene Gholz, associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and an expert on the Strait of Hormuz, previously served as a senior advisor at the Pentagon. Gholz can comment in regard to the deployment of U.S. troops to deter Iran from seizing ships in the Strait of Hormuz. 

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    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  4. Responsible Statecraft - Leading medical journals call for abolition of nuclear weapons

    “Nuclear weapons took great power war off the agenda of international politics,” Michael Desch of the University of Notre Dame told Responsible Statecraft earlier this year. And, as Desch noted, the total number of nuclear weapons has dropped dramatically from its high of 65,000 warheads in the mid-1980s.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  5. US expected to get around China’s export controls on gallium, an essential component for American military radar tech

    [Radar] systems rely on gallium nitride (GaN) technology to support their antennas and other essential components that are difficult to substitute.

     

    Eugene Gholz, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the US, said Beijing was in part aiming to disrupt the defence supply chain by countering the semiconductor export control...

    Mentions

    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  6. Can the West keep supplying Ukraine with enough artillery?

    Broadly, the more resources you put in, the easier it is to overcome these constraints. “If you want more ammunition, you just have to say, ‘We want more ammunition, and here’s the money to make it,” Eugene Gholz said. If you want as much as Ukraine does, this fast, it will cost you, he added. “But the fundamental question is: how many resources are you going to devote for this? What are you willing to do?”

    Mentions

    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  7. The American Conservative - C. Boyden Gray: The Passing of An Uncommon American Conservative

    By Michael Desch

    The New York Times titled its obituary for C. Boyden Gray “Lawyer for the Republican Establishment.” In one sense, that title is apt. For those old enough to remember the Northeast Republican establishment, Gray had impeccable credentials for it. But in another sense... Gray, like so many other establishment Republicans, was a man out of step with the current Republican Party.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  8. Cato Institute - Market Adjustment and Foreign Policy Failure

    Notre Dame associate professor Eugene Gholz discusses U.S. strategy, the low costs of neutrality in war, global oil markets and why the U.S. does too much militarily in the Middle East. He also advises a “defensive defense” strategy in East Asia, the ineffectiveness and overuse of economic sanctions, and decoupling from China.

    Mentions

    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  9. Vietnam soldier’s family reunited with dog tag after journey around the globe

    Fifty years ago today, the last American combat troops left Vietnam. Harry Smith shares the remarkable lengths former Senator Jim Webb and a group of Notre Dame students went to return a dog tag from the battlefield to the family of a Vietnam veteran.

     

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  10. Vietnam soldier’s family reunited with dog tag after journey around the globe

    Fifty years ago today, the last American combat troops left Vietnam. Harry Smith shares the remarkable lengths former Senator Jim Webb and a group of Notre Dame students went to return a dog tag from the battlefield to the family of a Vietnam veteran.

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  11. A U.S. Marine lost his dog tag in the Vietnam war. A tour group just found it.

    Cpl. Larry Hughes lost his military dog tag while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam nearly 60 years ago.

    The story of how Larry Hughes’s family received his dog tag on Feb. 17 was four months in the making and involves former U.S. senator from Virginia Jim Webb, 30 college students and a Vietnamese rice paddy farmer.

     

  12. Vietnam veteran's dog tag found in rice field, returned to family 57 years later: 'Means the world'

    In October 2022, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Notre Dame Professor Michael Desch took a group of students to visit the province. While exploring near an airstrip used by the U.S. military, a villager approached them and said he had six dog tags that were found plowing rice fields over the years.

  13. Peace through strength? US rattles China with new defenses near Taiwan.

    “We’re not talking about putting intermediate-range ballistic missiles there, which would look like an ability to attack targets in China,” says Eugene Gholz.

  14. A Climate Scientist Is Evaluating the U.S.’s Spy Programs

    “It is a fascinating part of the intelligence community and potentially one that, if used correctly, can make a difference,” Michael Desch said. “And I would say appointing a climate scientist would be an example of thinking about the board the way it’s been used most effectively.”

  15. Kansas City’s role in making doomsday weapons is a boon for the local economy

    “There’s a lot of sophisticated electronics, you know, timers, fuses, conventional explosives that help the nuclear explosives go off,” says Eugene Gholz, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame.

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science

  16. How Russian Tanks Captured by Ukraine Are Helping the Fight Against Putin

    Michael Desch, director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, said he did not think Ukraine's recent success in the Kharkiv region was due to any difference in tanks or other armored vehicles.

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  17. Biden’s UN balancing act: Condemning war while advocating broad agenda

    With his vision of the democracy-autocracy struggle and specifically, the war in Ukraine, “Biden is speaking and acting with a high degree of moral certainty that we are on the side of the angels,” says Michael Desch, a professor of international relations at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and founding director of the university’s International Security Center.

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  18. Ukrainian forces are stepping up efforts to retake Kherson

    Features interview with Michael Desch, Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations and Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center. (starts at 9:13).

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  19. War is a choice, not a trap: The right lessons from Thucydides

    Written by Michael Desch, Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center (NDISC) and Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations. 

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Michael Desch

    Michael Desch

    Political Science

  20. Javelin missiles are in short supply and restocking them won't be easy

     Notre Dame professor Eugene Gholz says it's one of almost two dozen Army-run plants across the country that make and refurbish military hardware.

    Originally published at news.nd.edu.

    Mentions

    Eugene Gholz

    Eugene Gholz

    Political Science