Notable Achievements

Political science major Sam Hoffman ’27 presented his paper “Truman’s Recognition of Israel: Strategic Interests or Domestic Politics?” on the panel “U.S. Foreign Policy and Public Opinion” at the Southwest Social Science’s annual conference in Nashville, TN on April 2. The work uses famed political scientist Robert Putnam’s two-level game theory to help explain the impact of international and domestic factors on President Harry Truman’s decision to recognize the newly-created state of Israel in 1948. The paper grew out of Hoffman’s work in Professor of Political Science Bob Snyder’s 2025 “U.S. Foreign Policy” class.

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Bob Snyder

Professor of Political Science

Expertise

International Politics, U.S. Foreign Policy, Middle East Politics, Terrorism

Bob Snyder strives to introduce students to different perspectives in the study of international politics and to have them to be able to compare and contrast the different theoretical and methodological approaches. His courses also survey contemporary international history with a focus on great power relations.  He uses several pedagogical methods that emphasize an interactive approach.

Snyder received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1993.

  • Biography

    Bob Snyder strives to introduce students to different perspectives in the study of international politics and to have them to be able to compare and contrast the different theoretical and methodological approaches. His courses also survey contemporary international history with a focus on great power relations.  He uses several pedagogical methods that emphasize an interactive approach.

    Snyder received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1993.

  • Publications

    “The Myth of Trump’s Transactional Foreign Policy,” International Journal (2025).

    “Realist or Just Anti-Liberal? Trump’s Foreign Policy in Retrospect,” International Journal (March 2024).

    “Ideology and Global Conflicts: Revolutionary Actors and Their Opposition to Liberalism,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (2024).

    “The Fall of Afghanistan: An American Tragedy,” Small Wars & Insurgencies  (2023).

In the News

  • How an Ask for Help Led to an Internship on Capitol Hill

    By embracing the support system on campus and the resources available through Southwestern’s liberal arts education, first-generation student Fernando Cruz-Rivera ’26 has put himself on track to a successful career in government.