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(De-)globalisation and International Order
Whenever we talk about the liberal international order, we actually also talk about globalization....
Some Quick Notes
Happy belated New Year! After a rather chaotic December – and lots of work on the backend of this...
Whisk(e)y and Epistemic Pluralism: A Quack-and-Forth (Part I)
This is the first instalment of a new series of interviews on Duck of Minerva entitled Quack-and-Forths.
Latest
Whisk(e)y and Epistemic Pluralism: A Quack-and-Forth (Part II)
This is part II of the first instalment of a new series of interviews on Duck of Minerva entitled Quack-and-Forths.
Xymena Kurowska
Xymena Kurowska of Central European University joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Professor...
Why we should call 1/6/21 a terrorist attack
One year ago today, a pro-Trump crowd attempted to shut down the certification of Joe...
Symposia
ACADEME
Where does the Academic Work End? or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Burnout
that I actually conceived of the idea for this post last week but was only able to force myself to write it today by promising myself a variety of self-care rewards like naps and whiskey.
Robert Jervis
As many of our readers have likely already heard, Robert Jervis died yesterday. The field has lost...
6+1 Questions about Armed Guests: Territorial Sovereignty and Foreign Military Basing
What’s the book? Sebastian Schmidt. 2020. Armed Guests: Territorial Sovereignty and Foreign...
6+1 Questions about How to Prevent Coups D’état: Counterbalancing and Regime Survival
Coup d’états are less likely to succeed against rulers who “counterbalance” their militaries with presidential guards, militarized police, and other security forces outside of military command. But there may be downsides.
Classic Blog Experience
Subfields
Van’s Favorite Political, History, and IR Reads of 2021
I read a lot of crap this year, but the good stuff was really good. The Causes of World War Three,...
Who’s Afraid of China’s Nukes?
In 1932, John Chamberlain lamented “the unwillingness of the liberal to continue with...
No, Critical Race Theory was not a “thing” in the Soviet Union
According to a recent tweet, which I am not going to link to, “CRT” led to...
Adam Sandler and the Rise of the Rest: Theoretical Myopia and the Liberal International Order
Film critics have approached Adam Sandler’s films the same way that IR scholars have analyzed the rise and fall of the Liberal International Order (LIO)
Phill Scott demonstrates what’s wrong with Biden’s Democracy Summit
Joe Biden’s “Summit for Democracy” was held last week. This summit meant to...
Podcasts
🎧 Podcasts
Topics
James Bond Made Redundant
There is perhaps no greater film institution than the James Bond franchise. Over 27 movies and 59...
The End of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Remembering the Silence
At a press conference on Sept. 20, 2011 Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) displayed a postcard. It was...
6+1 Questions about A research agenda for political demography
Name Of The Book… And Its Coordinates? Jennifer D. Sciubba, ed. 2021. A Research Agenda for...
Decolonizing Corruption
Corruption is an issue largely off the radar screens of many IR scholars. How can they better theorize corruption’s pervasiveness in international politics, while avoiding the biases of past approaches?
Failing Upwards and Global Elitism
Matt Hancock, a Conservative MP and the UK’s Health Secretary during most of the Covid lockdowns, has failed upwards. Less than four months ago, Hancock resigned in ignominy, caught breaking his own social distancing rules when he and an aide had an affair in his Whitehall office. Yet, after a brief summer holiday, he’s now been resurrected, appointed a UN special representative in sub-Saharan Africa. Why do we allow political leaders to revive their careers after they’ve failed miserably? Who, exactly, wants more of Matt Hancock?
Want to Start a National Security Think Tank?
You’re going to need some help. Since 2017, when I departed the Beltway in favor of...
Why isn’t IR funnier?
While political comedy thrives, IR comedy, whatever that phrase might mean, is virtually non-existent. omedy gap’? Is it a figment of my imagination or a real problem?
The Promise and Peril of Public-Facing Scholarship
Paul Musgrave concludes the “Lab Leaks” symposium by engaging with his interlocutors and reflecting on the challenges faced by political science in an era of public-facing scholarship.