Experts in the News | Miller Center

Fight for these State Department workers detained in Turkey

President Trump has expended significant political capital working to win the freedom of pastor Andrew Brunson, an American detained in Turkey for nearly two years now on baseless espionage and terrorism charges. Trump is right to do so, but he and his administration also have a moral obligation to come to the aid of three State Department workers facing a similar plight.

Eric Edelman

The Presidency

From the Director: On the appointment of Marc Short as a senior fellow

I recently offered a senior fellowship to Marc Short, the former legislative director in the Trump White House, so that he can help Miller Center scholars better understand the Trump presidency. Especially here in Charlottesville after the events of August 2017, people might question the appointment. Given the concern, I wanted to provide our community a broader explanation.

‘Never has our work been more important than now’: U-Va. leader defends hiring of outgoing Trump official

The University of Virginia’s decision to hire a departing member of President Trump’s administration prompted an outcry last week from some faculty and students angry about the president’s response to a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville last year that turned deadly. An online petition calling on U-Va. to revoke the teaching appointment of Marc Short, who until earlier this month served as Trump’s legislative affairs director, quickly gained more than 1,000 signatures. Here, William Antholis, the director and chief executive of the Miller Center, reflects on the debate and explains the decision to offer Short a fellowship.

William Antholis

Interview with Todd Sechser

Associate Professor of Politics at UVA Todd Sechser discusses the Trump Administration’s policies concerning Iran.

Todd Sechser

Brett Kavanaugh's paper trail means trouble for the federal 'alphabet' agencies

Progressives are right to fear Judge Brett Kavanaugh, but it is not his views on abortion, race or gay marriage that will haunt them. Instead, Kavanaugh’s threat to liberalism lies in his hostility to the modern technocratic state, where federal bureaucracies rule with few checks and balances.

Saikrishna Prakash

Ex-Trump staffers should not get plum jobs at elite universities

As of now, the Miller Center’s leadership is staying firm, meaning Short will join the university in just a few weeks. People move from government to academia all the time, but this move is different — precisely because the Trump administration represents a sharp break from past presidential administrations. Hiring its alumni does not show that the university is open to “diverse” viewpoints, as defenders of the Short appointment suggest. Rather, rewarding advocates of intolerance with a cushy position reveals a misunderstanding of how the forces of illiberalism work.

Nicole Hemmer