The Duck of Minerva

Peter Henne

Peter Henne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on global religious politics and the Middle East. His first book, Islamic Politics, Muslim States and Counterterrorism Tensions, was published in 2017 by Cambridge University Press and he is currently working on a book analyzing how states try to use religion in foreign policy. His scholarly research has been published in International Journal of Religion, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Church and State, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Politics and Religion, Religions, States and Societies, and Terrorism and Political Violence. In addition to the Duck, he has written for the Washington Post's Monkeycage, Political Violence at a Glance and The Huffington Post.

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Peter Henne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on global religious politics and the Middle East.

Recent Posts

Whither Scottish progressivism?

Whither Scottish progressivism?

by | 13 May, 2026 |

Much of the discourse about the recent UK local elections had to do with the decline of Labour under Keir Starmer and the worrisome rise of the far-right Reform Party. This is obviously important, but the outcome in Scotland’s parliamentary elections may have just as much of an impact on the future of UK politics. Devolution and Scotland This is a different topic than what I normally write about, although I have a few pieces on Scottish politics. My interest came from my sabbatical a few years ago, which I spent at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the...

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Britain is experiencing wave of antisemitic terrorism: Whether organic or state-sponsored, it needs to be addressed

Britain is experiencing wave of antisemitic terrorism: Whether organic or state-sponsored, it needs to be addressed

by | 8 May, 2026 |

I’ve been meaning to write this for awhile, and unfortunately it hasn’t gone out of date. On April 29th, a man stabbed two Jewish people in London. Shortly before that someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the window of a synagogue. A string of attack preceded that, including the arson near the former offices of a Jewish charity, bricks being thrown at a synagogue, and the destruction of ambulances belonging to a Jewish organization. These attacks are obviously antisemitic, but I think they also constitute terrorism. What we need to figure out, however, is what type of terrorism we’re...

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This Protestant feels confused: On moral authority and the Pope-Trump divide

This Protestant feels confused: On moral authority and the Pope-Trump divide

by | 24 April, 2026 | ,

As I have discussed here, I am a proud Protestant. I was raised Lutheran, and am now Episcopalian. While there is some variation among Episcopalians and Anglicans over whether they see themselves as Protestant, both my birth and adopted traditions are united in a rejection of the Pope’s—or as some call him, the Bishop of Rome’s—authority. And as a fan of medieval and early modern history, I always vicariously sided with the political leaders who stood up to the Roman Catholic church. I even named one of my first articles after an argument attributed to Frederick II on the need to separate...

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Religious nationalism makes the profane sacred: True faith uses the sacred to heal the world

Religious nationalism makes the profane sacred: True faith uses the sacred to heal the world

by | 6 April, 2026 |

For Western Christians, Holy Week—the most important time of the church calendar—just finished. Like many other Christians, it is a powerful and challenging time of the year. We are meant to reflect on how we are self-assured in our devotion to Jesus’ teachings one minute and turn on Him the next, seeing ourselves in the disciples who abandoned him. We are supposed to meditate on the simultaneous horrors and hope in His crucifixion. And we spent the weekend waiting for His resurrection (although I admit I rarely make it to the Saturday vigil). But this year was extra difficult to stay...

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Was I wrong on the Gulf states and Iran? An exercise in academic humility

Was I wrong on the Gulf states and Iran? An exercise in academic humility

by | 27 March, 2026 |

When I was in graduate school, my training included the methods and theories of international relations but also some of the epistemology and philosophy of science behind the sub-field. We discussed what makes a good research program and how can we tell if we’re making any progress in understanding the world. One of my advisors was a fan of Imre Lakatos’ approach, which looks at whether a research program is uncovering new novel facts or adjusting its initial claims to make up for discrepant observations. My fellow graduate students and I suffered through the application of this debate to a...

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Iran and the shadow of the Kosovo intervention

Iran and the shadow of the Kosovo intervention

by | 3 March, 2026 | ,

When I was in grad school in the mid-aughts, one Professor was a die-hard supporter of George W. Bush’s foreign policy. When challenged over the legality of Iraq, he noted that it is inconsistent for any liberal to oppose the invasion of Iraq while supporting the NATO intervention in Kosovo. Both were ostensibly in support of humanitarian goals, and neither received UN Security Council authorization, rendering them illegal. This may be less of a dilemma now that restraint has become a buzz-word among Democratic foreign policy circles and liberal internationalists seem few and far between....

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Rubio’s civilizational appeals will backfire

Rubio’s civilizational appeals will backfire

by | 18 February, 2026 |

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference demonstrated he is a better diplomat than Vice President J.D. Vance, although that’s not much of a hurdle to clear. Where Vance gave a bullying lecture, Rubio’s speech focused on emphasizing the importance of transatlantic ties and maintaining the US-European alliance. He argued the goal of this alliance, however, was to defend a common culture against the “threat” of immigration, raising concerns. And one of the ways he attempted to do this—appealing to shared Christian faith and a common Western civilization—will...

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Renee Goode and the limits of false terrorism charges

Renee Goode and the limits of false terrorism charges

by | 9 January, 2026 |

On 7 January, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents opened fire on Renee Goode, killing her. To be honest, I wanted to write a post on just how sad and terrifying this murder was. How wrong it is that ICE agents are targeting opposition-led cities and using brutal tactics against people suspected of being in the US illegally and protesters, including clergy who take part in protests. How unjustified it was that an ICE agent fired three times at someone who did not present any threat to him (see this good breakdown by a former FBI agent). How predictable it was that this...

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Trump, US foreign policy and Venezuela: Aberration or Honesty?

Trump, US foreign policy and Venezuela: Aberration or Honesty?

by | 5 January, 2026 |

In my international relations classes, I encourage my students to not just express their (mostly negative) views of Trump’s foreign policy. I also ask them to reflect on the extent to which Trump’s actions are in line with the history of US foreign policy. Some see the United States as adhering to liberal international norms, with Trump a major break. Others argue the United States was always domineering and aggressive, so Trump shouldn’t be much of a surprise. I thought of that as I read the news about the US intervention in Venezuela this weekend. I started out shocked; this feels like a...

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