Experts in the News | Miller Center

Deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history

Nicole Hemmer is interviewed on CNN about the synagogue massacre

Nicole Hemmer

China’s future rests on ‘mending fences with the United States’

Harry Harding, a veteran American specialist on China from the University of Virginia, also said Beijing’s new push for opening and reform was critical not only for China but US-China relations as well. “It’s important to note that compared to the situation 40 years ago, the challenge to this new wave of reform and opening comes as much from outside China as from within,” Harding said.

Harry Harding

Trump Cabinet exodus likely after midterms

“Getting people vetted and confirmed is no easy thing, even if the Republicans keep their majority in the Senate,” said Chris Lu, White House Cabinet secretary during Obama’s first term. “It could be well into 2019 before the president has a full Cabinet that is up to speed and carrying out his agenda.”

Chris Lu

Burning Down the House

Mary Kate is joined by Steve Krupin, former speechwriter for President Obama, for a smart discussion about this week’s attempted bombings and the blazing-hot political rhetoric leading up to the midterms. After jumping from Cicero to Nixon to Trump, the two move on to interview Stephen Hawkins of More in Common, which just published a report on tribalism in America. Learn about the seven tribes in American politics and why the largest one — the Exhausted Majority — is afraid to speak freely. Hear Hawkins’ take on his favorite hidden gem in the report, before all three swap ideas for lowering the heat in politics these days — from tech companies to nonprofits to parents. Plus what’s making Steve and Mary Kate hopeful in an especially difficult week.

Mary Kate Cary

Foreign Affairs

Q&A: The murder of Jamal Khashoggi

What you have to understand here is that this takes place in the context of a very serious rivalry for leadership in the region and the Arab states. And now inside the world of Sunni Islam, there is a rivalry between Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to see who will be the leading force in Sunni Islam. You have to see a both President Erdoğan’s speech today and all the statements that Turkish media have made based on leaks from Turkish intelligence and police sources in that light.

'A fraught moment.' Donors get behind a campus initiative to strengthen democracy

“At a fraught moment in history when democracies, including our own, are enduring extraordinary stresses, the University of Virginia will help navigate the dangers and draw lessons from best practices around the world,” said William J. Antholis, Director and CEO of the Miller Center.

The second differentiating component behind the Democracy Initiative is that UVA is, to quote Co-Director Melody C. Barnes, “also studying the rest of the world and making connections between what is happening here and what is happening in democracies around the world.”

William Antholis and Melody Barnes