Amid the annual deluge of end-of-year lists, I started to think about what readings generated the best classroom discussions I have overseen in the past calendar year. That list of readings is below, but I first need to provide some context. I teach seven courses per...
As someone who studies terrorism and religion, I approach each Christmas with dread due to the possibility of terrorist attacks around the holiday. A string of bombings hit churches in Indonesia and...
I wrote a chapter for a newly published edited volume, Teaching Political Science and International Relations for Early Career Instructors. The volume itself, capably edited by Michael P.A. Murphy...
Professor Jason Ralph joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Brent has known Jason's work for two decades, but only fairly recently met him in person. Jason grew up in the village of Norton Canes in...
Like many who follow the Middle East, a lot has been going through my head since the civil war there suddenly reignited and Bashar al-Assad's regime even more suddenly fell. Will the victims of his persecution now get justice? Will this weaken Russia and Iran in the region? Is the Islamist group that's now in charge, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as moderate as they claim? Will this make things worse for the Middle East's already beleaguered Christians? One question that keeps coming to the fore for me, however, has to do with US foreign policy discussions about ten years ago. The civil war was...
Under the Paris Agreement, states submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) outlining their commitments to reducing emissions. These documents are important window in the international politicization of climate change policy.
We’re living in a world where policymakers are playing Russian roulette with our lives and calling it “stability.” We need to think differently about nukes and the risks of war. Specifically, we need to recognize that the projects of peacemaking and nuclear stability are fundamentally linked. Peace advocates rightly abhor nuclear weapons, but tend to simply refuse the various concepts that occupy the nuke-bro imaginary. Although I totally get it and sympathize, those nuke-bro concepts are a language spoken by people wielding power. Deployed and critiqued the right way, they can have...