UF professor can provide insight into U.S.-Syria relations

September 9, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida history professor who focuses on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is available to talk about the challenges and potential consequences of U.S. intervention in Syria.

Matthew Jacobs, an associate professor of U.S. and international history, can place the Syrian conflict in the broader current and historic context of the Arab Spring and U.S. relations with the Middle East.

President Obama is scheduled to give a prime-time address to the nation Tuesday night on his proposal to take military action against Syria because of its reported use of chemical weapons that killed 1,400 people who lived in an area held by rebels against President Bashar Hafez al-Assad.

Jacobs’ research and teaching interests include broader U.S. foreign relations and international politics. He is the faculty adviser for the international studies major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

He earned his doctorate in U.S. history with a specialty in foreign relations and his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Jacobs can be reached at 352-273-3371, or mjacobs@ufl.edu.