On Tuesday, I mentioned that second rule of Russia watching is "follow the money". The only problem is that following the money is not easy.I've been asked on occasion whether I think Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of YUKOS oil now in prison for tax evasion and...
First up, expanding the blog collective. A big welcome to our new contributor, Maia Gemmill. Maia is a recent SAIS graduate in Russia-Eurasia studies with a concentration in Economics. We also...
Did you know that there's a new Cold War? Well, not really. It makes for good media headlines, but it's largely exaggerated hype.Nevertheless, tensions between the US and Russia have been on the...
By now, you have probably heard about the recall of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, which are decorated with lead paint. While Lead-Foot Thomas is getting a lot of media attention right now, it's only...
The U.S. is now going to arm Sunni Iraqi groups -- some of the very same groups that were called "insurgents" just days ago -- if those groups pledge to fight al Qaeda of Iraq. Reportedly, this strategy has proven successful in al-Anbar province and will now be tested in other Sunni strongholds.This is an interesting development, to say the least.At first glance, the plan seems ridiculous. The U.S. could effectively be arming both sides in a civil war. "The Daily Show" spent a lot of time Wednesday making fun of the ploy, running all kinds of footage of media talking heads saying "The enemy...
It has been a busy week in world politics, but despite finishing my book I've been too squeezed to provide insightful commentary. A bit of geek-blogging, on the other hand, takes far less energy. While I was trolling around Gamespot this discussion of Halo's influences caught my eye:GS: With Halo, you've succeeded in creating a unique sci-fi setting and storyline in a rather overcrowded genre. What were the inspirations for the game's mythology?Jaime Griesemer: That's tough. Halo was created by a group of people, all with their own personal flavors and influences, so the end product is the...
How many ways, how many times, can one say that the US is @#$*&% in Iraq?Today, two of the better military correspondents following Iraq (each with a must-read book on Iraq) dispense key insights as to how problematic Iraq is for the United States.Michael Gordon in the NYT reports that:The top American military commander for the Middle East has warned Iraq’s prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter the growing tide of opposition to the war in Congress.In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed...
Alex Cooley has a very positive review of Thomas Wright's and my article, "What's at Stake in the American Empire Debate," up at 3 Quarks Daily.UPDATE: Henry Farrel links to Cooley's discussion and sparks a debate in comments.
The Senate held hearings the other day to confirm Lt. General Douglas Lute to be President Bush's "War Czar"-- a special assistant to the President directly overseeing the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.* Remember, this is the job that 3 or 4 (to our knowledge) retired Generals turned down. Lute, on active duty in the Army, could hardly say no.I wonder-- how on earth is he going to be able to do anything in this job? In the report on his confirmation hearing, Lute offered a "dour assessment" of Iraq:President Bush's nominee to be war czar said yesterday that conditions in Iraq have not improved...
Gary Kamiya reviews Cullen Murphy's Are We Rome?. This seems like a good excuse for me to post, for your consideration, four "lessons" on how (not) to think about American Empire that form the core of a piece I'm working on for a forum on "American Empire":According to Deepak Lal (2004: 63), the “United States is indubitably an empire. It is more than a hegemon, as it seeks control over not only foreign but also aspects of domestic policy in other countries. But it is an informal and indirect empire.” Proponents of the existence of American Empire justify their claim on a number of grounds:•...
Over the past two and a half years, I have been contacted periodically by an Iranian journalist for Fars News Agency who identifies himself (herself?) as Kia Kojouri (or maybe Kojoury). Note that the "informational materials" exemption to the U.S. embargo on Iran makes these kinds of exchanges perfectly legal. A few years ago, scholars circulated warnings about government interpretations of the sanctions law that made some rather ordinary intellectual activites illegal when involving Iranians. Later, however, that narrow interpretation was reversed.In any event, kia most recently asked for...
I'm teaching a summer course on "American Grand Strategy" in about a month. I have a pretty good idea what the course is about:The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the Bush administration's National Security Strategy, and the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have triggered a major debate about American grand strategy. Many scholars and pundits now propose alternative grand strategies under a variety of names: "National Security Strategy 2.0," "Ethical Realism," "Progressive Realism," and so forth. This course seeks to provide students with the historical and...