UC Davis experts: Iraq war
The following University of California, Davis, faculty members are available to comment on aspects of the Iraqi war.
War and politics
Governance and economy
Legal issues and culture
WAR AND POLITICS
Options for the future
Miroslav Nincic, professor of political science, can discuss the successes and failures of U.S. policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nincic is an international relations scholar who studies war, U.S. foreign policy, national security, the arms race and public attitudes toward war. In his 2006 book, Renegade Regimes: Confronting Deviant Behavior in World Politics, Nincic profiles the major shift in international relations in the past several years. Contact: Miroslav Nincic, Political Science, (530) 752-2262, .
Wartime lies and conspiracies
UC Davis history professor Kathryn Olmsted can talk about conspiracy theories related to 9/11, including a poll showing that one-third of Americans believe the U.S. government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. She is the author of "Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11" (2009), and has given numerous talks on 9/11 theories. Contact: Kathryn Olmsted, History, (530) 752-2118, .
Security issues
Zeev Maoz, political science professor at UC Davis, is an expert on Middle East security, including politics, economics and strategic military issues. He can talk about domestic instability in the Middle East as a result of the wars and about more general Middle Eastern political problems. The former director of Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Maoz wrote Defending the Holy Land? (2006). Contact: Zeev Maoz, Political Science, (530) 752-1989, .
GOVERNANCE AND ECONOMY
The next crisis: Iraq's refugees
Historian Keith David Watenpaugh, an associate professor in the Religious Studies Program at UC Davis, can speak about modern Islamists, particularly in Europe and North America. Watenpaugh has lived and conducted research in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. He is the author of the book, "Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism and the Arab Middle Class" and has written articles on Middle East culture and politics for the "American Historical Review," the "International Journal of Middle East Studies" and others. His work has been translated into Arabic, French, German and Persian. Contact: Keith Watenpaugh, Religious Studies, (530) 752-1344, .
Democracy and economics
Iraq needs sustainable democratic political and economic institutions as well as a well-coordinated international aid program to restructure its economy, says Hossein Farzin, a UC Davis professor of agricultural and resource economics who specializes in the Middle East. A former economist and consultant for the World Bank, Farzin has advised Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates on their economies. He can talk about how Iraq's recovery will depend on a stable democratic government, in tandem with economic planning. "It is, however, important to note that building democratic institutions does not take place overnight; it requires patient and steady work at the very grass root of a society," he says. "Nor can it be imposed from outside in a straight-jacket model, without careful attention to the each society's historical, geographical, social, and economic background." Contact: Hossein Farzin, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-7610, .
LEGAL ISSUES
Women's human rights
Professor Madhavi Sunder of the UC Davis School of Law is an expert on women's human rights in Muslim countries and communities. With law and culture as the focus of her scholarship, Sunder says international human rights law often fails to address women's rights under even the most oppressive regimes because such law is reticent to interfere with religion and culture. A 2006 Carnegie scholar, Sunder published a leading article on women's rights activism in the Muslim world, titled "Piercing the Veil," in the Yale Law Journal in 2003. Her related article on dissent within cultural groups was published in the Stanford Law Review in 2001. Contact: Madhavi Sunder, School of Law, (530) 752-2896, .
Impact of the war on Iraq's cultural heritage
Lynn Roller, professor of art history, can speak about the impact of looting in Iraq's museums and consequences for scholarship. She is knowledgeable about historic monuments and urban centers in what was once Mesopotamia and is now Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Roller also can talk about the art and archaeological monuments of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece and Rome. An archaeologist with many years of research experience in Turkey, Roller won the Wiseman Prize, given by the Archaeological Institute of America, for the outstanding book of the year in classical archaeology for her book, "In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele" (1999). Contact: Lynn Roller, Art History, (530) 754-8723, .
Media contacts:
- Karen Nikos, News Service, (530) 752-6101, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu
Last updated Feb. 15, 2012
