Experts in the News | Miller Center

Lack of Women Politicians Doomed Roe - Here's How To Get Them Elected

Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, yet less than a third of the nation’s elected leaders. It’s not because they’re not winning. It’s because they’re not running. And studies show that the gender gap in political ambition is just as big today as it was 20 years ago. Why, and how do we change that? Andy poses those questions to gender and politics researcher Jennifer Lawless and She Should Run founder Erin Loos Cutraro.

Jennifer Lawless

Finland and Sweden Deserve to Be in NATO Now

After months of anticipation, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced Thursday their country’s intention to apply for membership in NATO, and neighboring Sweden is not far behind. In polling last fall, only about a fifth to a quarter of Finns and Swedes supported their respective countries joining NATO. After Putin’s premeditated, unprovoked, and highly scripted invasion of Ukraine on February 24, there has been a massive movement of public opinion towards joining the alliance. In Finland, the numbers supporting membership jumped to 53 percent, then 62 percent, and a poll earlier this week measured 76 percent support with only 12 percent in opposition. The swing in Swedish opinion has been less dramatic, but still emphatically shows a majority (57 percent in April) supporting NATO membership for the first time.

Eric Edelman

Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control: Old Myths and New Realities

It’s been a difficult few months for the so-called arms control community. Cherished myths and deeply held beliefs have been dashed by Russian, Chinese, and North Korean behavior. Reciprocity has been demonstrated to be an empty concept. And yet the alluring illusions persist. It’s time to sweep the hoary old folktales away and confront the new realities.

Eric Edelman

PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff on ethics in a time of crisis

Current PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff joins Miller Center Director and CEO William Antholis to discuss Jim Lehrer’s legacy of journalistic integrity, her approach to reporting, and how she’s led her news team through the major crises of the past several years: the COVID-19 pandemic, related economic turmoil, the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the devastating war in Ukraine and its widespread geopolitical ramifications.

William Antholis

Finland pursues NATO membership as Russia vows retaliation

Finland announced Thursday it would end its decades-long neutral status and seek to join NATO. A formal declaration will be made Sunday, while Sweden is expected to follow suit next week. Both nations have resisted joining NATO but were spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine to change course. Eric Edelman, U.S. ambassador to Finland during the Clinton administration, joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

Eric Edelman

Examining the crisis in America’s democracy and the polarization of its politics

Nearly 250 years ago, America's founders declared that everyone has "unalienable rights." What those rights are has been debated ever since. As the Supreme Court weighs the future of abortion rights the nation's divide has come into sharper focus, as growing political polarization plays out in the midterms. University of Virginia politics professor Sidney Milkis joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Sidney Milkis