Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Are red states and blue states on the verge of a civil war?

People in this story

(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
A member of the National Guard patrols the steps of the Supreme Court on Monday, February 8, 2021.

Civil War is coming,” a New Jersey woman posted on social media days after participating in last year’s storming of the U.S. Capitol. Indeed, America had not experienced a disruption in the peaceful transfer of power like what happened a year ago since the Civil War. Stark divisions between Democrats and Republicans make it appear as if the country is on the brink of tearing apart, but it wouldn’t be accurate to call it a civil war, says a prominent national security expert at Northeastern.

“We need to be careful about what we mean by civil war,” says political science professor Max Abrahms. While there’s no consensus over the definition of the term, most scholars point out that a civil war requires a certain threshold of deaths on the government side and the resistance side, he adds. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the melee. “I do not believe that America will become violent enough to be characterized as a civil war,” Abrahms says. That doesn’t rule out the prospect of further political violence as there was on Jan. 6, 2021, he adds, “but it will be short of civil war.”

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

The relationships fans form with fictional characters can be powerful – and problematic -if taken to an extreme, Northeastern experts say. Photo by Liane Hentscher/HBO

Why are fans upset about ‘The Last of Us’ season two? Experts say it tests the limits of fandom and parasocial relationships

04.20.2025
President Donald Trump, left, greets Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, outside the White House on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Did Donald Trump defy a Supreme Court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

04.15.2025
Pope Francis, the first Vatican leader from a Latin American country, died at age 88 Monday. Photo by Giuseppe Ciccia /Sipa via AP Images

What is the legacy of Pope Francis — and the future of the Catholic Church

04.21.25
All Stories