This is awesome.
‘I Find your Lack of Cheer Disturbing’ – Merry Christmas
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Year: 2012
Friday Afternoon Linkage
 Friday is here. SEMESTER IS OVER. Fresh snow on the Vermont slopes. Three very good things. I'm surprising my wife with this news -- I've already lined up the kids for summer camp. More fodder on...
Models, Maps, and Simplifying Assumptions
I don't want to say too much about the Rathbun-Arena smackdown (smackduck?) taking place but I will say this: We often rely on maps that are not "true." The Mercator projection is "wrong" if our...
Brian and Phil Hug it Out
Many of you seem to have read my earlier post knocking the use of assumptions in theory-building, particularly rationalism, and Phil Arena's defense of it. My earlier post was a little over the top...
More Year: 2012 Posts
Negotiating with Terrorists
When governments offer concessions to dissident groups in the midst of a terror campaign, they often see an increase in violence take place afterwards. For example, between 1968 and 1977, attacks conducted by the ETA claimed the lives of 73 people.  Partial autonomy was granted to the Basque region in 1978, yet despite the fact that this represented a significant shift towards the desired outcome of the ETA, violence increased, over the next three years, the ETA would kill 235 people, and fatality levels remained elevated for decades. Why then do governments offer concessions? One answer is...
Podcast No. 12 – SF and Pedagogy Panel at ISA-NE 2012
Audio from the Speculative Fiction and Pedagogy panel at the International Studies Association-Northeast 2012 convention.
Mandates!
Krauthammer says that Obama doesn't have a "mandate." In 2004 he argued that Bush had one. According to Krauthammer: [Obama] won by going very small, very negative," said Krauthammer, speaking on FOX News as throngs of Obama supporters danced in celebration over Obama's re-election victory. "This is not a mandate either in the numbers or the way he campaigned," warned Krauthammer, adding, "He did not campaign on any ideas, anything large, anything important. If memory serves, Bush did not wage a relentlessly positive campaign against Kerry. Moreover, consolidating the largest expansion of...
Podcast No. 12 – ISA-NE2012 SF and Pedagogy Panel (mp3)
This is the audio (in mp3 format) from the Speculative Fiction and Pedagogy panel at the International Studies Association-Northeast 2012 convention. The panel featured Henry Farrell, Dan Nexon, Jennifer Lobasz, and PTJ. Notes: The new feed for Duck of Minerva podcasts is here. I will continue to post Duck of Minerva podcasts at the old feed for the time being, but I suggest switching over the new one sooner rather than later. Podcasts will also be available via direct download from the "Podcasts" tab.
Podcast No. 12 – ISA-NE2012 SF and Pedagogy Panel (m4a)
This is the audio (in m4a format) from the Speculative Fiction and Pedagogy panel at the International Studies Association-Northeast 2012 convention. The panel featured Henry Farrell, Dan Nexon, Jennifer Lobasz, and PTJ. Notes: The new feed for Duck of Minerva podcasts is here. I will continue to post Duck of Minerva podcasts at the old feed for the time being, but I suggest switching over the new one sooner rather than later. Podcasts will also be available via direct download from the "Podcasts" tab.
Wednesday Morning Election Reaction
One nice thing about a status-quo election: it doesn't leave international-affairs experts with a great deal to prognosticate on. It will be interesting to see if the administration does, indeed, show more "flexibility" on BMD cooperation with Moscow and if it makes a push on Israel-Palestine. We should see a fresh wave of talent coming into the administration. While the money right now is on John Kerry for Secretary of State, I'm more interested to see if people like Colin Kahl come back into the bureaucracy. My main reaction last night was relief. And pride that the people of Maryland...
Hey! Poll Adjusters: Unskew This!
It was sort of sad watching conservatives play the same game that we did in 2004. Poll aggregation + 1; bubblethought -15.
Why I Voted for Barack Obama Today
Amazing how the Simpsons is still pretty funny after 25 years… In the interest of full disclosure, I thought I’d list the reasons why I voted the way I did. I know conservative media regularly accuse professors of politicizing the classroom, but an honest discussion of why one chooses the way one did can also be useful exercise of citizenship. (See Drezner for an example of what I was thinking of.) So with that goal, not demagoguery, in mind, here we go: 1. The Tea Party Scares Me This is easily the most important reason for me. Regular readers of my own blog will know that I vote in...