If you are in need of an expert to discuss North Korean troops being in Russia, three faculty experts are available for interviews. Please see their names and information below. If you are interested in interviewing any of them, please contact Vanessa Marquette, media relations specialist, at vrmarque@syr.edu.
Tetiana Hranchak, Ph.D. is a visiting assistant teaching professor in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs. Hranchak’s research interests include issues related to political and cultural communication, libraries’ participation in the implementation of the politics of memory, preservation and transmission of historical memory, formation of critical media literacy and countering information manipulation and propaganda. She writes: “North Korean troops in Ukraine would be another confirmation that the Russian war in Ukraine is not a local or regional conflict. Along with the intensification of military operations in the Middle East using the terrorist group Hamas, this is an additional confirmation of the anti-Western axis formed by Russia, which includes China and Iran in addition to North Korea. For now. The rhetoric of the heads of government of Slovakia Robert Fico and of Hungary Viktor Orban, the strengthening of pro-Russian right-wing radical sentiments in a number of European countries and the visit of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Russia do not add confidence in the impossibility of extending this axis to the European space in the future. This is an evidence of the ineffectiveness of the chosen by the West strategy to delay the solution of the ‘Russian problem,’ which increasingly opens up space for the corrosion of the entire security system established after the Second World War. In the current conditions, the acceptance of Ukraine into NATO and thus the strict limitation of Russian expectations regarding Ukraine could become a safeguard against the further destruction of the world order.”
Brian Taylor, political science professor at Syacuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, studies Russia politics. Much of his research has focused on the development of the Russian state, with particular attention to state coercive organizations, such as the military and the police. He is the author of the book The Code of Putinism. He did an interview with LiveNOW on Fox about this topic.
Sean McFate, adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, is an expert on 21st century war and changing international relations. McFate is one of the world’s leading expert on mercenaries. He wrote the book The New Rules of War: How America Can Win—Against Russia, China, and Other Threats. Yesterday, McFate talked about South Korean troops going to Ukraine and said “This is a worrisome development, if true, because it would internationalize the Korean conflict and lower the threshold for direct conflict between the two Koreans in Ukraine, which could go nuclear. A problem of war is unintended consequences. This seems like an unnecessary risk by South Korea.”
Robert Murrett, retired Vice Admiral and currently a professor of practice at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, has expertise in national security, international relations, and military and defense strategy. He is also the deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University. Murrett was a guest on LiveNOW on Fox and WSYR Radio about this story.
