Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been sick all week and finally feel like myself again this afternoon, so I'm going to try to catch up on a few things that I had meant to mention but....First off: A must read from last Sunday's NYT (I had actually started...
This weekend I discovered Facebook’s “Which Dictator Are You?” application. This is a seven-question quiz that spits out a result with some basic historical information on a dictator and some cheeky...
A while ago there was some discussion on this blog about the definition of "celebrity" activism for the purposes of empirically studying the entertainment industry's role in advocacy campaigns. A...
Charles Tilly has won the 2008 Albert O. Hirschman Prize.From the announcement:“Charles Tilly is one of the most distinguished of all contemporary social scientists,” said Craig Calhoun, president...
This one is for real.As all three of you may remember, Maia Gemmill joined the Duck in 2007 and graced us with incisive and eloquent commentary on developments in Russia and Eastern Europe.But, you also may have realized, she hasn't posted anything in a long time. Unfortunately, developments concerning Maia's career (all good) now preclude her from contributing to the Duck of Minerva. So I hope you'll wish her a belated farewell. That's all.
Anyway, the end begins tomorrow. I'm sure the political-science/science-fiction nerds that dominate the international-relations blogsphere will have much commentary.The main question: will it be like the first half of Season 2, or the second half of Season 3? Ah, the difference between greatness and farce....
This week's Economist has an outstanding look at US foreign policy (Leaders and Special Report), with a pointed analysis of Bush's policy shifts that have made him hugely unpopular both at home and abroad and an insightful look at the dilemmas that the next President will face. Their conclusion: While the new President will certainly enjoy a brief honeymoon, there are deep currents of world politics and US foreign policy that auger for more continuity, rather than change. The crux of the analysis centers on a traditional realist's reading of the current state of international affairs:[I]n a...
How should one account for President Bush's April 1, 2008 speech at the NATO summit? In my view, either those who drafted the speech went a bit too crazy with the Control-X and Control-V buttons, or they just don't care if he makes transparently inconsistent arguments.Bush on missile-defense deployments in Eastern Europe:"This week President Putin is planning to attend his first NATO summit and later this week I plan to travel to Sochi, Russia, for further talks on this and other matters. In our discussions, I will reiterate that the missile defense capabilities we are developing are not...
My April Fools' Day post, "Why I've decided to leave the academy," has generated some interesting commentary. LC, in particular, complains that the post isn't very funny.must say I find this April Fools joke to be rather distinctly un-funny. It's actually moderately convincing as a straight-face routine -- or it would it be if one didn't know that the author of the post recently announced the send-off of his 500-page magnum opus to Princeton Univ Press -- until one gets to the line about re-tooling as a statistician or game theorist in order to be policy-relevant. This is a giveaway: many...
I know this will come as a shock to long-time readers, but I decided, after much angst, to accept a position as a public-opinion research analyst with a major Washington-based firm (whose name I cannot disclose until the contract is finalized). This was a difficult decision for me, not least because it will probably necessitate leaving the Duck of Minerva.I thought I should explain my decision. At the very least, posting about it will help me get a few things out of my system.There are a number of reasons I've become increasingly disenchanted with academia. It goes without saying that I will...