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#ExpertSpotlight: Erin go bragh!
St. Patrick’s Day, celebrated annually on March 17, has evolved from a solemn religious observance to a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Rooted in the legacy of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, this holiday is now synonymous with parades, green attire, and festive gatherings. While often viewed as a day of Irish pride and heritage, its historical significance and evolving traditions reveal deeper cultural and social themes. As millions prepare to celebrate, this topic provides an opportunity to explore the rich history, religious roots, and modern interpretations of St. Patrick’s Day. Key story angles include: The Life and Legacy of St. Patrick: Exploring the history of St. Patrick, his role in spreading Christianity in Ireland, and how myths like driving out the snakes became associated with him. The Evolution of St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations: Tracing the transition from a religious feast day to a global celebration of Irish heritage. How Different Countries Celebrate: Highlighting the unique ways St. Patrick’s Day is observed worldwide, from Ireland’s official events to large-scale parades in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The Economic and Tourism Impact: Analyzing how St. Patrick’s Day boosts tourism, pub sales, and the hospitality industry. The Role of Irish Diaspora Communities: Examining how Irish immigrants and their descendants helped popularize St. Patrick’s Day in countries like the United States. Cultural Appropriation vs. Authentic Celebration: Discussing debates over commercialization, stereotypes, and efforts to preserve the cultural integrity of the holiday. As St. Patrick’s Day continues to be a widely recognized celebration, its history and traditions offer a compelling look at cultural identity, globalization, and the intersection of faith and festivity. Connect with an expert about St. Patrick's Day: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
Trade Wars: Economic Strategy or Risky Gamble for the U.S.?
As global markets become increasingly interconnected, trade wars have emerged as a high-stakes economic strategy with far-reaching consequences. A potential trade conflict between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—key partners in the North American supply chain—raises critical questions about economic growth, job security, and consumer prices. While proponents argue that tariffs and trade restrictions protect domestic industries, critics warn of rising costs, retaliatory measures, and disruptions to vital industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. Understanding the impact of trade wars is essential to assessing the future of North American economic relations, with key areas of interest including: The economic implications of tariffs on American businesses, workers, and consumers How a trade war with Canada and Mexico could impact the USMCA agreement and cross-border trade The industries most vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and retaliatory tariffs The historical impact of past trade wars on economic growth and stability The role of globalization and shifting alliances in modern trade policies Potential winners and losers: Which sectors stand to benefit, and which face economic hardship? This issue presents a timely and complex discussion about economic policy, international relations, and the future of North American trade. Connect with an expert about trade and trade wars: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
Supply chain disruptions cost organizations an estimated $184 billion annually, according to Swiss Re. A recent survey of 2,000 European shipping customers by logistics giant Maersk revealed that 76% experienced supply chain disruptions that delayed their business operations in the past year, with 22% reporting more than 20 disruptive incidents in the same period. These figures underscore the growing businesses’ growing vulnerabilities, as detailed in the 2025 J.S. Held Global Risk Report, which outlines how companies worldwide must adapt to an increasingly complex and volatile supply chain landscape. As highlighted in the 2025 Global Risk Report, modern supply chain disruptions stem from a range of factors, including climate change, natural disasters, cyberattacks, fraud, and geopolitical instability. Conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East continue to exacerbate these challenges. Gone are the days when companies could shift blame to suppliers without accountability. The globalization of supply chains has made them increasingly susceptible to cyber incidents, material shortages, and regulatory scrutiny. Consumers and governments alike are demanding greater transparency, pushing companies to disclose where products come from, how they are sourced, and whether their manufacturing processes harm people or the environment. The 2025 Global Risk Report notes that in response, governments worldwide have introduced stricter regulations, particularly in the European Union, where new and existing legislation is enforcing greater oversight and compliance. “As consumers, governments, and corporations acknowledge the effects of supply chain risks, transparency and due diligence will become more critical to the internal compliance structure of global businesses,” said Vice President of Sustainability Andrea Korney. “The enactment and greater enforcement of laws focused on sustainability issues have increased the obligations on companies to examine the sources and actions of their suppliers and how it all impacts the entire value chain.” In the 2025 J.S. Held Global Risk Report, multidimensional experts who combine scientific, technical, financial, and risk management expertise identify and explore key business risks shaping the future of supply chain resilience, including: Geopolitical instability Natural disasters and climate science Maritime route disruptions Regulatory fragmentation Cybersecurity threats Trade and tariff threats Critical minerals dependency Financial risks and fraud J.S. Held environmental risk and compliance expert John Peiserich, Esq., observes, “These risks are no longer hypothetical—they are actively reshaping the business landscape. Organizations that fail to anticipate and mitigate these challenges risk operational disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage.” For businesses seeking to build resilient supply chains, the 2025 J.S. Held Global Risk Report serves as an important guide, providing expert insights and data-driven analysis to help companies navigate the evolving risk landscape. J.S. Held experts serve as trusted advisors to global clients on these and other risks, crafting business strategies, leveraging technology seeking to mitigate risk, and optimizing business opportunities to build resilience in an era of uncertainty. Supply chain risk is just one of the five key areas analyzed in the J.S. Held 2025 Global Risk Report. Other topics include sustainability, the rise of crypto and digital assets, AI and data regulations, and managing cyber risk. If you have any questions or would like to further discuss the risks and opportunities outlined in the report, please email GlobalRiskReport@jsheld.com. To connect with Andrea Korney or John Peiserich simply click on either expert's icon now. For any other media inquiries - simply contact : Kristi L. Stathis, J.S. Held +1 786 833 4864 Kristi.Stathis@JSHeld.com
ExpertSpotlight: Origins and History of Santa Claus
Santa Claus, the beloved figure at the heart of modern Christmas celebrations, has a rich history rooted in centuries of global tradition and folklore. His story originates from Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop known for his generosity, and has evolved over time through cultural influences from Europe to North America. Santa's transformation into the jolly, red-suited icon we recognize today reflects not only the blending of mythologies but also the commercialization and globalization of Christmas. Understanding Santa’s origins offers valuable insights into cultural exchange, religious traditions, and societal values. Key story angles of interest include: The historical figure of Saint Nicholas and his influence on Santa Claus How Scandinavian folklore shaped Santa's association with winter and gifts The commercialization of Santa Claus in 19th and 20th-century America Depictions of Santa across cultures, from Europe’s Sinterklaas to Russia’s Ded Moroz The role of advertising, particularly Coca-Cola, in shaping Santa’s modern image Santa Claus as a symbol of generosity and its implications for holiday consumerism Connect with an expert about the Origins and History of Santa Claus: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
Ask the expert: The constituencies who will determine Michigan’s election results
When it comes to how Michigan has voted in modern presidential elections, a majority of voters have voted for the Democratic nominee for president. In recent years, however, Michigan has become more competitive as a key swing state. In 2016, former President Donald Trump won by just over 10,000 voters and in 2020 President Joe Biden won by just over 150,000 voters. After Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee, she has had a thin lead over Trump and, now, many pundits are saying Michigan is a toss-up. For Harris to win the presidency, she likely must carry Michigan and that includes needed margins with key voter groups such as young voters, as well as Arab American and Black voters. Nazita Lajevardi is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science in the College of Social Science. She is an expert in American politics, and her work focuses mainly on issues related to race and ethnic politics, political behavior, voting rights and immigration. Here, she answers questions on key groups of voters and the issues they care about that could determine who wins Michigan — and likely who will win the presidency. Responses and excerpts are from an article published in Brookings. Where does the election stand in the final days? Since Biden stepped down at the end of July, Harris has enjoyed a steady — albeit at times uncomfortably thin — lead over Trump in Michigan. However, polling from the end of September onward suggests that Harris comfortably winning the state on Nov. 5 is not a foregone conclusion. With just three weeks left to go in the 2024 presidential race, the polling website FiveThirtyEight indicates that as of Oct. 24, 2024, Kamala Harris is ahead of Donald Trump in Michigan by only 0.6 points — 47.6 compared to 47.0. This narrowing of the race appears to be closing the gap that Harris gained over Trump in August. Diving deeper into specific polls feeding into these estimates, it becomes clear that while Harris maintained a solid and consistent lead over Trump by between one and up to eight percentage points in the middle half of September, polls from the third week of September onward have either had Trump leading the state, Harris winning the state by a slim margin, or the two of them being evenly split. What issues do Michigan voters care about? A September 2024 New York Times/Siena College poll found that the three issues Michigan voters cared most about were the economy (24%), abortion (17%) and immigration (14%). Trump, for one, has campaigned heavily in recent weeks about two of these three issues. For instance, he has appealed heavily to Michiganders whose jobs were lost to globalization and automation by promising to revive the American car industry and bring back car factories that have closed in recent years. Groups like Duty to America are highlighting Trump’s strengths on illegal immigration by airing ads across Michigan arguing that it has hurt white people who have been “left behind.” And, while Harris, on the other hand, has great strengths on abortion rights, success in the 2022 elections in amending the state constitution to secure the right to abortion and other reproductive health services may have reduced abortion’s importance as a central voting issue in the state. What impact will Black voters have on Michigan’s result? Among Black voters, experts have identified an enthusiasm gap between those who are part of the “Black leadership class” and deeply connected to the Democratic Party and those Black Michiganders without those same connections, who are more working class, poorer, more fatigued, less interested, and therefore more susceptible to sitting out elections. Many Black voters are also deeply concerned about the economy, and as Michigan State University political scientist Meghan Wilson has noted, Harris could attract Black business owners and holders of student debt by discussing plans to infuse capital into small businesses. The Harris campaign appears to agree. Recently, Harris not only unveiled economic proposals appealing to Black voters but also traveled to Detroit to participate in a radio town hall with Charlamagne tha God, whose program The Breakfast Club has a nationwide audience, much of whom is Black. But attention should be paid to one particular effort to stifle Black turnout. Recently, it was revealed that Tom Barrett, a GOP candidate for the U.S. House, ran a newspaper advertisement in the Black-owned newspaper Michigan Bulletin that incorrectly informed the readership, most of whom are Black, to vote on Nov. 6, when Election Day is Nov. 5. What impact will Arab American voters have on Michigan’s result? Harris is in a deeply precarious position vis-à-vis Michigan’s Muslim and Middle East/North Africa, or MENA, electorates. Without a doubt, these groups will have an outsized impact in deciding how Michigan’s 15 electoral college votes will be cast. According to political scientist Youssef Chouhoud, Michigan is home to more than 200,000 Muslim registered voters. Over the past year, Muslims’ support for the Democratic Party has plummeted. In a recent poll fielded between Aug. 25 and Aug. 27, the Council on American Islamic Relations found that Jill Stein is leading Muslim voters in Michigan; 40% of Muslims surveyed in that poll supported Stein, 18% supported Trump and only 12% supported Harris. And, as Harris’ support for Israel remains steadfast while Israel continues its assaults on Gaza and now Lebanon, she has arguably alienated these voters who could have been a reliable source of electoral support for her. What will the role of youth voters be in Michigan’s outcome? Young voters in Michigan present a potential stream of untapped support for the Democratic Party. Though young voters have historically turned out at lower rates than older Americans, young voters in Michigan stand out from their peers. Fifty-four percent of Michiganders 18 to 29 years old voted in the 2020 election, a 20% increase from 2016. In the 2022 midterms, when young voters aged 18 to 29 in Michigan recorded the highest voter turnout in all the country, they demonstrated how impactful their votes were in enshrining abortion and voting rights in the state constitution. That year, about 75% of students who were registered voters at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University cast ballots. This year, however, how successful Harris has been in activating the youth vote remains to be seen. Certainly, young Michiganders are more enthusiastic about her candidacy than they were Biden’s, but recent analyses by Michigan State University political scientist Corwin Smidt indicate that so far youth turnout in Michigan’s November 2024 election lags behind their 2020 levels. What’s more, young voters were a key part of the “uncommitted” coalition who sent a strong message to then presidential nominee Biden over his enabling of the Israeli war in Gaza during the February 2024 primary election. But Harris is making strides to connect with young voters by establishing offices at campuses across the state. Importantly, young voters could not only shape the outcome of the presidential election, but also the partisan balance in Congress, given that young voters at Michigan State University will have the opportunity to cast a ballot in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, which is among the 26 toss-up districts in the country. It will be all eyes on Michigan Tuesday - and if you are covering, Nazita Lajevardi is available to help. Simnply click on her profile below to arrange an interview today.
Labor Day, celebrated on the first Monday in September, is more than just a long weekend marking the end of summer—it is a day dedicated to honoring the social and economic achievements of American workers. The history of Labor Day is deeply intertwined with the labor movement and the fight for fair working conditions, making it a day of both reflection and celebration. This event is significant not only because it recognizes the contributions of workers to the nation's prosperity but also because it sheds light on ongoing issues such as workers' rights, labor laws, and the future of work in an increasingly automated and globalized economy. Potential story angles: The origins of Labor Day and the labor movement in the United States The evolution of labor laws and workers' rights since the 19th century The impact of automation and globalization on the American workforce The role of unions in modern-day labor movements The intersection of labor rights and social justice issues How Labor Day is celebrated across different regions and industries in the U.S. Connect with an expert about the History of Labour Day: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
The Fast Food Wars are on! Let our experts explain the history behind the industry
In the contemporary culinary landscape, fast food stands as a pervasive and influential force, shaping not only our eating habits but also broader societal trends. This topic is newsworthy due to its significant impact on public health, economic structures, and cultural dynamics. The history of fast food offers a rich narrative that intersects with various pressing issues such as nutrition, labor practices, and globalization. Furthermore, the evolution of fast food reflects changes in consumer behavior, technological advancements in food production, and shifts in marketing strategies. Key areas for exploration include: The Rise of Fast Food Chains: Examining the origins and growth of iconic fast food brands and their role in transforming the food industry. Health Implications and Nutritional Debates: Analyzing the impact of fast food on public health, including discussions around obesity, dietary choices, and nutritional content. Economic Influence and Labor Practices: Investigating the economic contributions of the fast food industry, its employment practices, and the ongoing debates around wages and working conditions. Cultural Impact and Globalization: Exploring how fast food has influenced cultural identities, consumer behaviors, and the spread of Western food culture globally. Technological Innovations in Food Production: Looking at advancements in food technology that have enabled the mass production and distribution of fast food, from kitchen automation to supply chain logistics. Marketing and Consumer Psychology: Assessing the strategies used by fast food companies to attract and retain customers, including advertising techniques and menu innovations. The history of fast food offers journalists a multifaceted topic with numerous angles to explore, each revealing important insights into how this ubiquitous industry has shaped—and continues to shape—various aspects of modern life. Connect with an Expert about the history of Fast Food: Aidin Namin, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing Analytics, College of Business Administration · Loyola Marymount University Melissa Melough Assistant Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences · University of Delaware Matthew McGranaghan Assistant Professor, Marketing · University of Delaware Anna McAlister Assistant Professor of Advertising and Public Relations · Michigan State University David Julian McClements Distinguished Professor of Food Science · University of Massachusetts Amherst To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com Photo credit: Jonathan Borba
Leap Years and the Connection Between Astronomy and Our Lives
Most of us know February 29 as a whimsical anomaly—nothing more than a chance to tease our friends or colleagues born on this day as technically being a quarter of their purported age. But how often do we think about the origins of the day as we now know it? Or about the near-universal implementation of this specific way to keep track of time? Do we ever consider the impact a leap year could have on everyday life? Frank Maloney, PhD, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova University, has been teaching for nearly 12 leap years (47 years). He is an expert in timekeeping and calendaring, calling them a “fundamental connection to our lives, ruled by the motion of objects in the sky,” because “everyone has to agree what day and time it is.” Dr. Maloney currently teaches a course called “Earth: Our Habitable World,” where he discusses this and other connections between astronomy and people’s lives. In the case of leap years, the astronomical phenomenon from which they originate—the Earth’s time to orbit the sun—is a very important one to accurately track. “You want your calendar to keep pace with the seasons,” Dr. Maloney explained. “There are all sorts of ways of measuring the pace of the Earth around the sun, but the way that [also] keeps pace with seasons is called the tropical year, and unfortunately, there’s not an integer number of days in that year. We can’t ignore it, because after the first year you’re off by a quarter of a day and after four years off by a full day, and so on.” Ancient civilizations were aware there were slightly more than 365 days in a solar year but didn’t know exactly how much more. Gradually, the seasons would become unsynchronized with the calendar, and those various civilizations added days back in at random times to realign. “In those days, it might be possible to leave one area in April, and arrive [somewhere else] the previous December,” Dr. Maloney joked. The concept of a leap year began with the Roman Empire’s implementation of Julius Caesar’s namesake calendar on January 1, 45 B.C.E., at his behest. The Julian calendar was a solar calendar, which consisted of a 365-day year, and a 366-day leap year every four years, without exception. It was often added as a duplicate day in the middle of February. “But a year is not exactly 365 and a quarter days. It’s a little bit less,” Dr. Maloney explained. “By the Middle Ages, it was 10 or so days out of whack with the tropical year. Astronomers would have seen that very easily... but the reason to change it was not there.” Not until the late 16th century, that is. And the reason it did change was because Easter had moved out of line with the vernal equinox. “Nearly all calendars have a mystical, religious or theological component,” Dr. Maloney said. “In the Roman Church, Easter is reckoned as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring.” In order to have Easter fall back in line with the equinox, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull in 1582, which declared a year to be a more accurate 365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes in length (roughly). What that meant for leap years was that, instead of every four years without exception, they would now occur every four years except on century marks, unless that century mark was divisible by 400. For example, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. The years 2100, 2200 and 2300 will not be leap years. The global switch to a new calendar was not easy or done in haste. To enact the initial calendar change, 1582 went from October 4 to October 15 to eliminate extra accumulated days. Catholic countries mostly followed suit soon after, but many others resisted, as citizens feared it was a political trick. It took centuries to get to the near-universal use of the Gregorian calendar we have today. Great Britain and other Commonwealth nations did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. An individual such as George Washington could have been considered to be born on one day in the Julian calendar and have a different birthday in the Gregorian calendar. In the American colonies, September 1752 skipped to the 14th day of the month from the second. The most recent country to switch from the Julian to Gregorian calendar was Greece in 1923. By then, the calendar was roughly two weeks off from the tropical year. In the early 1900s, when globalization was commencing, this was a big deal. “You could get in an airplane and fly someplace, and not even know what day you’d be landing. According to the calendar, it’d be time travel,” Dr. Maloney said. Saudi Arabia still used a few elements of the Islamic calendar for fiscal purposes until 2016, and Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and Ethiopia are the only countries in the world that do not officially use the Gregorian calendar currently. So, what does all this mean for people today? For starters, historians and genealogists must be careful when studying historical dates and events. For example, a country may have still been using the Julian calendar during a particular time period, or perhaps an event might have occurred during the time days were skipped to make the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendars. “If an infant were born [in the American colonies] on the second of September 1752, for example, and died on the 14th, they were not really 12 days old,” Dr. Maloney said. “Or if a war began in a country one day but started on a different day in a different country, it causes confusion.” Leap years and other adjustments to timekeeping can also cause a plethora of computing and software issues, impacting multiple industries. This is especially true in the digital age where time-stamping is so ubiquitous. Case in point, on occasion, we actually have to add a leap second to time to account for the slowing of Earth’s rotation. These leap seconds are added after 11:59:59 on either December 31 or June 30, when needed. “There’s a great deal of controversy about this particular practice,” Dr. Maloney said. “It really confounds software. A jet airplane, for example, can travel a fairly long distance in one second. Time has to be kept now to fractions of seconds, [even for things like] lawsuits and insurance policies. Timekeeping is a very important task for astronomers.” It seems those astronomers have it figured out... for now. Even the Gregorian calendar will eventually need an adjustment, as its margin of error is about 27 seconds per year. That means every 3,236 years—so sometime in the early 4800s—an additional extra day will need to be added somewhere to correct it. Luckily, we have some time to plan ahead.
UCI expert sources for the Russia/Ukraine Conflict
On Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, UCI’s School of Social Sciences hosted a webinar titled, “Understanding the Russia-Ukraine Crisis.” Several of the experts below offered perspective on key issues surrounding the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. You can watch or listen to the webinar here: https://www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/news/2022/2022-02-25-understanding-the-russia-ukraine-crisis.php UCI faculty members available to comment, and their areas of expertise, are found below. Matthew Beckmann, Associate Professor, Political Science. Professor Beckman studies the organizational structures and operational strategies presidents can use to pick their team, invest their time, focus their attention, channel their effort, discipline their thinking, coordinate their subordinates, and, most importantly, make decisions. Contact: beckmann@uci.edu Jeffrey Kopstein, Professor, Political Science. In his research, Professor Kopstein focuses on interethnic violence, voting patterns of minority groups, and anti-liberal tendencies in civil society, paying special attention to cases within European and Russian Jewish history. As pertains to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, he can speak to politics in Russia and Ukraine, Authoritarianism, NATO and the transatlantic alliance, and European Union policy. Contact: kopstein@uci.edu Erin Lockwood, Assistant Professor, Political Science. Professor Lockwood’s research areas include international political economy and global financial politics. She can speak to questions related to economic sanctions, financial sanctions/financial infrastructure and payments systems more generally (for example, the prospect of cutting off Russian access to the SWIFT financial communications system.) Contact: eklockwo@uci.edu David Meyer, Professor, Sociology, Political Science and Planning, Policy & Design. Professor Meyer’s research examines the relationships between social movements and the political contexts in which they emerge. Topics surrounding the Russia/Ukraine conflict that align with his expertise include sanction strategy; the resistance strategy that might emerge in Ukraine in the face of occupation; the history of the Cold War and its influence today; and the possibility of a powerful peace/isolationist movement emerging in the U.S. Contact: dmeyer@uci.edu Gustavo Oliveira, Assistant Professor, Global & International Studies. Professor Oliveira is a specialist in global political economy and critical geopolitics, focusing on the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and international commodity markets, especially agricultural trade and natural resource governance. He can speak to the basis of the Russia/Ukraine conflict on natural resources, and the repercussions of the conflict for international commodity markets, inflation, and disruptions to global food supply chains. He can also speak about the anti-war movements in Russia, Europe, the United States, and broader political repercussions of the conflict in Brazil, Latin America, and the U.S. Contact: gustavo.oliveira@uci.edu Stergios Skaperdas, Professor, Economics and Director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies. His general area of research is political economy, the interaction of economics and politics. Among other issues, he has studied conflict and wars, the role of the modern state in economic development, and the interaction of globalization and geopolitics. Contact: sskaperd@uci.edu Etel Solingen, Distinguished Professor, Political Science and Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies. Solingen studies the reciprocal influence between international political economy and international security, globalization and its discontents. She can discuss the crisis in terms of historical precedents (of international crises), the utility of sanctions, bargaining in crisis, Russia’s economic decline and how it bears on the current crisis. Contact: etel.solingen@uci.edu Media Contacts: • Tom Vasich, Communications Officer, UCI | 949-285-6455 | tmvasich@uci.edu • Heather Ashbach, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, School of Social Sciences | 719-651-3224 | hashbach@uci.edu
UCI experts can discuss unfolding crisis in Afghanistan
UCI faculty members Dr. Heidi Hardt, associate professor of political science, and Dr. Mark LeVine, professor of modern middle eastern history, are available to speak about the crisis in Afghanistan. Dr. Heidi Hardt Dr. Hardt can talk about NATO's contribution to Afghanistan, implications for NATO's legitimacy, security concerns for Afghan women and provide broader context on military interventions and operations. She can address more specific questions related to the two decades long allied operation. About Dr. Hardt: Dr. Hardt has expertise in transatlantic security, national security and European security and defense, including NATO, the EU and OSCE. Issue areas include transatlantic security cooperation, collective defense, crisis management, military operations (e.g. Afghanistan), coalition warfare, strategy, learning, adaptation, organizational change, gender and diplomacy. She's the author of two books: NATO's Lessons in Crisis: Institutional Memory in International Organizations (Oxford UP, 2018) and Time to React: The Efficiency of International Organizations in Crisis Response (Oxford UP, 2014). She's the recipient of a 2021-2022 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship and will soon be working as a foreign policy fellow for the Office of Congresswoman Katie Porter. Contact: hhardt@uci.edu Dr. Mark LeVine Dr. Levine was in Kabul in 2019. His point of view on Afghanistan includes: • “Why did the US abandon the embassy when the agreement with the Taliban specifically allowed to diplomatic staff to remain in Afghanistan and there was no imminent threat by the Taliban to the embassy and in fact the US was coordinating with them. They could have certainly kept the lights on and not looked like cowards running, which set the tone for everything else.” • “It seems pretty clear that there was an internal military coup. The Taliban did not just waltz into Kabul without coordination with senior military people who are already handing over parts of the country to them in the days before. Some kind of deal had been worked out behind the scenes and without the knowledge of the president, which is why he felt he had no choice but to flee.” About Dr. LeVine: Dr. LeVine completed his Ph.D at NYU’s Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies in 1999, after which he held postdoctoral positions at Cornell University's Society for the Humanities and the European University Institute's Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, in Florence, Italy before coming to UCI. His research and teaching focus on the following issues: histories, theologies and political and cultural economies of the Middle East and Islam in the modern and contemporary periods; Palestine/Israel; cultural production, revolution and resistance in the Middle East and Africa; modern and contemporary Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco; art and conflict in West Africa (especially Ghana and Nigeria, but also Senegal, Mali and Kenya); comparative studies of imperialism and colonialism, urban planning and architecture (history and theory); critical theory and globalization studies with a comparative focus on popular cultures and religion in Europe and the Muslim world; peace and conflict studies; and comparative nationalisms. Contact: mlevine@uci.edu