Experts in the News | Miller Center

UVA Miller Center breaks down controversy in the U.S. Supreme Court

This year, the U.S. Supreme Court looking at hot button and controversial topics, from abortion to guns. There is also the question of appointing a new justice before the midterm elections in November. Experts from the Miller Center at the University of Virginia are weighing in on the cases that have the potential to reshape the future of America and discussing who's likely to get President Joe Biden's first high court nomination. First up, is "the political stench" of overturning a landmark case: Planned Parenthood v. Casey. "To re-examine a watershed decision would subvert the court's legitimacy beyond any serious question,” said Sarah Wilson, a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center.

Sarah Wilson

Could Saudi Arabia Help Save Biden’s Flailing Presidency?

Conspicuously absent from the administration’s early priority list, however, was expanding the Abraham Accords, the flurry of peace deals that Donald Trump forged between Israel and four Arab states in the final months of his presidency. But with so many of Biden’s first-year initiatives now faltering or—as in Afghanistan—ending in outright debacle, his administration would be wise to turn its attention to the accords as a potential success story in an otherwise bleak foreign policy landscape.

Eric Edelman

Biden's top science adviser resigned following complaints about his work behavior

That's Katie Dunn Tenpas, who studies presidential personnel at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. "I think just generally in the aftermath of the Trump administration, this was an important feature of the new Biden administration. And you need to remain consistent."

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Running for office is still for men—some data on the “Ambition Gap”

s the 2022 midterm election season gets underway, speculation is already mounting that it’s going to be another banner year for female candidates. Early reports suggest that Black women and Republican women are especially poised to make historic gains. But make no mistake, even if 2022 is another so-called “Year of the Woman,” politics is still a man’s game.

Jennifer Lawless

Covid-19 Commission Modeled on 9/11 Inquiry Draws Bipartisan Backing

“This is a crisis that has been shockingly polarizing,” said Philip D. Zelikow, the lawyer who led the 9/11 Commission and has been laying the groundwork for a pandemic inquiry. “This is the first signal that maybe leading Democrats and Republicans are now ready to come together. I think that’s really heartening. A lot of people would not have predicted it.”

Philip Zelikow

A more sympathetic perspective on Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists

The schadenfreude can be quite delightful. Take Goldman Sachs, which essentially told partner Syaru Shirley Lin to get lost when she served up an investment in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba on a silver platter. Senior people at Goldman insisted that she offload the $1.7 million stake she’d taken. Upon Alibaba’s IPO, that stake would have been worth an astounding $4.5 billion.

Syaru Shirley Lin