The Duck of Minerva

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Joshua Busby is a Professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. From 2021-2023, he served as a Senior Advisor for Climate at the U.S. Department of Defense. His most recent book is States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security (Cambridge, 2023). He is also the author of Moral Movements and Foreign Policy (Cambridge, 2010) and the co-author, with Ethan Kapstein, of AIDS Drugs for All: Social Movements and Market Transformations (Cambridge, 2013). His main research interests include transnational advocacy and social movements, international security and climate change, global public health and HIV/ AIDS, energy and environmental policy, and U.S. foreign policy.

Recent Posts

Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 9 May, 2013 |

Here is your Thursday Morning Linkage, starting with some energy and environment links: Illegal fish trade costs $10 billion to $23 billion in global losses each eyar China's coal mining companies and coal burning power plants accounted for 15% of the country's total freshwater withdrawals China leading the United States on climate change? Charles Mann on the perils of petro-energy abundance (Drezner dissents) In other news, Syria is heating up in the news with Israel's strikes over the weekend putting pressure on the Obama administration to do more: C.J. Chivers remarks on spending time...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 2 May, 2013 |

Here is your Thursday Morning Linkage. Back on the Africa theme from a couple of weeks ago, here are some good reads from the week: More reports on the elephant poaching crisis in CAR Last rhinos in Mozambique killed by poachers with the help of park rangers; time for Kruger fences to come back up Alex de Waal trolls celebrity activists like Enough, Kony 2012, faults them for insufficient consultation with local actors on the ground Nigerian military over-reacted and killed a bunch of citizens in the north: Boko Haram recruitment advertisement Abuamerican, American jihadi gone to Somalia,...

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Policy-Relevant Research, Redux

Policy-Relevant Research, Redux

by | 1 May, 2013 | ,

e-International Relations asked me to write a piece about doing policy-relevant research. I thought I'd cross-post it here, especially timely given recent posts on this blog along with Ronald Rogowski's screed that our work is too policy-relevant but policymakers just don't want to hear what we are saying (HT: The Monkey Cage). Here is the full post: During graduate school, the community of up and coming scholars who wanted to do policy-relevant research seemed a bit like Fight Club. It was something each of us secretly wanted to pursue but were reluctant to talk about in public. We found...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 24 April, 2013 |

If last's week Thursday morning linkage was Africa-themed, this week's links are China-related and inevitably harken back to the events in Boston: Laurie Garrett, as she is wont to do, wonders if this recent bird flu outbreak in China is "the big one" Beijing air is so bad they are canceling recess, kids at grave risk Oh, and Shanghai air sucks too China's shale gas revolution has yet to begin (Armond Cohen thinks it will take too long to take off) Japanese tree die-off blamed on air pollution from China New bilateral effort between U.S. and China to address climate change Chinese demand for...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 18 April, 2013 |

On this awful news week, I'm feeling like some Thursday Morning Linkage needs a little opening joy before launching into the useful reads of the week: Here are some useful Africa-centric readings on this awful, awful news week: Cullen Hendrix examines the links between food price rises, regime type, and subsidy policies in Africa Jennifer Bussell researches why some African governments are more able to prepare for and respond to potential natural disasters Jennifer Hazen's new book What Rebels Want drawing from substantial fieldwork in West Africa explains how rebel movements that lose their...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 11 April, 2013 |

Here is your Thursday Morning Linkage! Algal bloom kills 240 of Florida's 5000 manatees (cause of death: natural toxin) Madonna smacked down by Malawi government after her recent visit Shale gas and methane leaks, greener than coal but by how much? Obama tells donors that the politics of the environment are hard, hints at what he might do on Keystone XL pipeline BP is beyond "Beyond Petroleum," sells wind power interests Nicholas Lemann asks: what happened to the environmental movement? New bird flu cases from China: how worried should we be? Tom Bollyky: Why does Gleevec, a leukemia drug...

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Is there a Downside to Open Access Publishing?

Is there a Downside to Open Access Publishing?

by | 9 April, 2013 |

Robert Farley's post last week about how long the journal publication process is struck a chord. One of my journal articles took three years from submission to appearance and was gated (I had to get my own piece through inter-library loan since it came out and the library didn't have a subscription for the most recent issues). I have often felt as Farley does: If you are reading this article in PS, the article has gone through a vetting and editing process that has probably lasted at least 18 months. This process undoubtedly improved the quality of the article, but it also substantially...

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Thursday Morning Linkage – ISA Special

Thursday Morning Linkage – ISA Special

by | 4 April, 2013 |

Arriving in the middle of the International Studies Association annual meeting, here is your Thursday morning linkage... Man tries to smuggle 10% of endangered Madagascan tortoise population into Thailand DRC military facilitating poaching and pillaging in UNESCO world heritage site Just when the French thought it was safe to go home: suicide bombers in Timbuktu Bad Chinese air killing 1.2 million Chinese every year prematurely Chinese government study says pollution costs 3.5% of gross domestic product  Dude, where are half of China's rivers? Thomas Homer-Dixon pleads with Obama to cancel...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 28 March, 2013 |

Here is your Thursday Morning Linkage with some categories for helpful reading... Global Economy Cyprus and EU avert financial catastrophe but EU looks like "gang that can't shoot straight" Krugman recommends Cyprus exit from the Euro Energy and the Environment Wildlife returns to Guyana CFR hosts joint event with Conservation International on the mainstreaming of environmental security Trevor Houser flags EIA report on U.S. energy consumption John Romankiewicz questions whether shale gas is actually changing the country's energy trajectory all that much Africa Central African Republic...

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Thursday Morning Linkage

Thursday Morning Linkage

by | 21 March, 2013 |

Manta rays and sharks get new protections, CITES closes on a hopeful note Yet new slaughter of elephants in Chad Black market for sea cucumbers in Mexico, driven by demand in China Oh yeah, Senate passes measures restricting NSF funding for study of democracy (cuz that's not important), NSF can only fund study of issues germane to national security so we're okay (just kidding) Will Obama use Nixon-era NEPA to fight climate change and/or is he prepared to delay rules for new coal plants Theda Skocpol reflects on what we can learn from failed 2009-2010 cap-and-trade climate fight and suggests...

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