Jeremi Suri, the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, is an expert on U.S. nation-building, modern international relations, contemporary foreign policy and protest and dissident movements.
The author of “Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama,” Suri looks to America’s history to see both what it has to offer to failed states around the world and what the nation should avoid.
Suri is one of dozens of experts at the university who can speak to issues regarding the 2012 elections.
Resources for People
It's interesting that this election is about the economy and that Republicans, most notably Romney blame Obama for the economy. I think presidents get way too much blame and credit for the economy, at least in the short-term. Did Clinton have anything to do with the economic boom of the 90s? Could Bush have single-handedly prevented the recession of 08'? How could we attribute all the blame/credit to the president when he doesn't even have a PhD in economics? The economy is way too complex and there are too many factors to attribute it to one man. I do not think the economy is the president's most important job or that he should have a PhD in economics. I think foreign policy is his most important job, and that's where he has the most power. But how I could be right? How could such a fallacy exist in a country with thousands of economists? In 08, the country went through a financial crisis, you can't just magically get out of it and make it better. If the Republicans have better ideas, then why don't tell the Democratic party and the President, and have a debate and figure it out?
It bothers me professor that you and other people with PhD's don't get time on cable television networks and instead they bring on people who don't know as much or are biased towards the network or help to draw ratings. The media is so further geared towards entertainment and drawing ratings rather than substantive commentary. Though, America's private-owned media/cable television does a much better job than other country's government-owned media.