The BBC reports:The owner of an internet site critical of the Russian authorities in the volatile region of Ingushetia has been shot dead in police custody.Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the ingushetiya.ru site, was a vocal critic of the region's administration.The...
Having uploaded my quick-and-dirty video APSA presentation, I thought I might also upload some other movies I've made over the years relating to international-relations theory and topics. The...
I had to skip the APSA Annual Convention on very short notice this year. Alex Montgomery asked me if I could therefore do some sort of a video presentation for the panel he and Emilie Hafner-Burton...
Rob Farley points to a Times article reporting that Russia will soon annex South Ossetia. The source for the report? The South Ossetian president. So, as Rob notes, caveat emptor. Indeed, I can't...
Further thoughts on the Palin pick...There seem to be two different logics to picking a running mate.*Logic 1: Would this person make a good VP once elected? Could the person step into the role of President should the worst case scenario arise? Will the person be a partner in governing, capable of taking on a significant portfolio?Logic 2: Will this person help the ticket win the election? Does the person bring some sort of constituency into the fold? Does the person shore up a perceived weakness in the top of the ticket?You can kinda see where this is going... Obama seems to have followed...
I recently received a rejection on a piece from a major journal in my field. The piece had been with the journal for about seven months, which is very long in international relations.The rejection was fair, but, like all authors, I had some issues with some of the substance of one of the critiques--although other aspects of it were spot on. So, having received the decision, I write a quick email to my co-author in which I say something mildly positive about the editors and something pretty negative about one of the reviews. I conclude, however, that I won't send another piece to the journal...
My initial reaction to McCain's choice of Sarah Palin to be his VP was: Who?This is very out of the box for McCain. On the one hand, you kind figured he'd try something like this, because after watching Obama's speech, he really to kickstart his campaign. On the other hand, picking a VP is supposed to be a serious choice, with the heartbeat away from the presidency thing and all. Palin, with zero, and I mean zero, national political profile, just doesn't seem to fit that bill. She's a major unknown. Under-experienced and unknown.Davenoon, the resident Alaskan at LGM, drops some knowledge...
Whadda ya know? Left-wing bloggers are extolling the speech and right-wing bloggers are talking it down. Gosh. You'd think they were all a bunch of partisans who not only watched it through their own filters, but consider it their duty to help or hurt Obama's cause. Nah. Bloggers are a new breed. They'd never do that.Image source: DemConvention on Flickr
Russia encircled by enemies plotting against it?CNN's summary of its interview with Putin, passed along without comment:Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and...
Nancy Pelosi -- "Permanent Chair of the Convention," whatever that title means -- called for a motion to suspend the rules so that the convention could approve Joe Biden as the party's Vice-Presidential candidate by acclimation. The motion was moved and seconded, and then approved; I didn't hear any opposition when she called for "no" votes. So the motion passed, and Pelosi then announced that Biden had been nominated by acclimation. Strictly speaking, that's not true: all that was approved was the suspension of the rules. Procedurally speaking, there should then have been a motion to...
I'm watching PBS coverage of the 2008 Democratic Convention. In response to Bill Clinton's line about how the world is more impressed by the power of the United States' example than the example of its power, Brooks quipped (I paraphrase): "I don't think Vladimir Putin or Ahmadinejad will be impressed by our example."But that completely misses the point. The wager of liberal internationalism is that the United States can better achieve its objectives by building strong alliances through multilateral cooperation. The aim isn't to "impress" people like Ahmadinejad, but to impress the leaders we...
The convention is so much kabuki theater, but a few minutes ago the Democrats nominated the first African-American major-party candidate for President of the United States... on a motion by a woman who nearly became the first female major-party candidate for President of the United States.I think we can all agree that, whatever our politics, this is a pretty amazing day in the history of the United State of America.... But I don't need every anchor and network consultant to bloviate endlessly about that. What's the point of covering a convention if most of what you're going to do is to cover...