Rice expert available to discuss relations between US and Russia

Rice University
Office of Public Affairs / News & Media Relations

EXPERT ALERT

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Amy McCaig
713-348-6777
amym@rice.edu

Rice expert available to discuss relations between US and Russia

HOUSTON – (March 27, 2018) – In the aftermath of the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the United States, Rice University political scientist Ric Stoll is available to discuss what’s next in U.S.-Russia relations.

Photo credit: 123rf.com

The U.S. joined a growing group of Western allies in their announcement of plans to banish Russians from their countries in solidarity with Britain, which previously barred 23 Russian diplomats following the poisoning and attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the U.K.’s intelligence services in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Stoll said that he expects “periodic rough patches” in the United States’ relationship with Russia.

“It was perfectly reasonable for the U.S. to expel Russian diplomats and close the Seattle consulate in response to the attempted murder of Skripal,” he said.

Russia responded to the expulsions by announcing its intentions to expel Western diplomats.

“No one should have been surprised that Russia is threatening to retaliate,” Stoll said.

And although he does not believe the U.S. is entering a new Cold War, Stoll thinks that the U.S. and Russia “will experience highs and lows in their relationship over time.”

Stoll is the Albert Thomas Professor of Political Science in Rice’s School of Social Sciences and a scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His research focuses on forecasting terrorism and the quantitative study of international conflict, for which he uses both statistical analysis and computer simulation. He is quoted regularly by local and national media outlets on issues involving national security and international conflict.

To schedule an interview with Stoll, contact Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 713-348-6777 or amym@rice.edu.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

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This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Richard Stoll bio: https://politicalscience.rice.edu/richard-stoll

Stoll’s Baker Institute bio: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/richard-stoll/

Rice Department of Political Science: https://politicalscience.rice.edu/

Photo link: http://news.rice.edu/files/2015/01/stoll2.png

Photo credit: Rice University

Photo link: http://news.rice.edu/files/2018/03/RussianUSAflag-1jw50ea.jpg

Photo credit: 123rf.com

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,970 undergraduates and 2,934 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.

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