Michael G. Roskin (born 1939) is an American political scientist. He is a retired Professor Emeritus of Political Science at
Lycoming College
Lycoming College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an in ...
in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...
.
Background
Roskin received his A.B. at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...
and M.A. at the
University of California at Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
. He served as a journalist and foreign service officer for the
U.S. Information Agency before earning his Ph.D. in international relations at The
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...
.
Career
Roskin began teaching at Lycoming College in 1972. Roskin served as Visiting Professor of Foreign Policy at the U.S. Army War College from 1991 to 1994. He is the author of five political science textbooks.
In 2008, Roskin retired from teaching, after being named a Fulbright Scholar; he continues to lecture.
In 2020, Roskin wrote that "anti-Russian accusations have switched parties" from Republicans denouncing Democrats in the 1950s and 1960s to Democrats bashing Republicans in the 2010s and 2020s as traitors under the influence of Moscow (then USSR, now Russian Federation). He compared the
McCarthyist
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
attack in the 1950s on "
China Hands" to
Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...
's "deconstruction of the administrative state." He noted that
Kennan declined to judge if
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in co ...
was a spy. (He probably was.)" He compared the Hiss case to President Donald J. Trump's "operative"
Paul Manafort
Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and Lawyer, attorney. A long-time Republican Party (United States), Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Donald Trump 2016 presidential ...
's own "deep contacts" with Russian intelligence agents. However, he contrasted with the past a current "willingness of many career officials to resign."
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Works
According to the Library of Congress, Roskin has published:
* ''Other governments of Europe: Sweden, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, and East Germany'' (1977)
* ''Countries and concepts: an introduction to comparative politics'' (1982, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001)
* ''Political science: an introduction'' (1988, 1994, 1997, 2000)
* ''IR, an introduction to international relations'' with Nicholas O. Berry (1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2002)
* ''National interest: from abstraction to strategy'' (1994)
* ''Rebirth of East Europe'' (1994, 1997)
* ''Hard road to democracy: four developing nations'' (2001)
References
1939 births
Living people
American political scientists
University of California alumni
Lycoming College faculty
People from Williamsport, Pennsylvania
American University alumni
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