Academia

Strategies of Unusual Size

by Dan Nexon | May 6, 2022 | Academia, Security

I wrapped the 2022 edition of my undergraduate “Grand Strategy” seminar this past Tuesday. This must have the eight or ninth iteration of the class. I like teaching it. I really do. But I have significant reservations about “grand strategy” as a classroom subject. I’m not at all convinced that grand strategy is a thing. Yes, plenty of people advocate for a preferred “grand strategies.” Not a few of them would love to become the ‘next George F. Kennan,’ which leads to some truly eyeroll-worthy...

Partnered Engagement: A New Form of Ethical Policy Engagement

by Oliver Kaplan | Apr 18, 2022 | Academia, Bridging the Gap, Human Rights, Security, States & Regions

What happens when a research subject becomes a research and briefing partner? In 2017, I was contacted by the peacebuilding NGO Peace Direct to contribute to a policy report on...

Why Land Acknowledgements?

by Stuart J. Kaufman | Apr 9, 2022 | Academia, Race

The ISA statement lacks not only comparative history but also local historical depth. It also distorts moral responsibility.

How I Found a Job Outside of Academia

by Lauren Haumesser | Apr 8, 2022 | Academia, Bridging the Gap

I hold a PhD in history from the University of Virginia. Like many graduate students, I began my doctoral program hoping to become a professor. When I decided to pursue a different career, my university didn’t know how to advise me. Here’s what I learned about finding a non-academic job.

More Academia Posts

What is in a Name? Additional Sources of Bias in Citation Counts

by Idean Salehyan | Mar 8, 2022 | Academia, Featured, Publications

Articles by authors with foreign-sounding names are cited far less than those written by people with “typically-American” names.

The Invasion of Ukraine is Russia’s Fault

by J. Patrick Rhamey Jr. | Mar 7, 2022 | Academia, Security, States & Regions, Theory & Methods, US Foreign Policy

For Mearsheimer “freedom” and “prosperity” are simply weapons of great power politics rather than aspirations sought by the Ukrainian people.

A tale of two realisms

by Peter Henne | Mar 3, 2022 | Academia

It's been a rough week for John Mearsheimer. He has come under a barrage of criticism for his claim that Russia's aggression towards Ukraine is the West's fault. His theoretical tradition, realism, has also come under fire, for producing not only (arguably) bad policy takes but policy takes that don't seem to flow from the theory itself. Does this mean that all of realism is flawed? I would argue no, by pointing to another target of such claims, Stephen Walt. This says something about how to make/keep realism relevant. The trouble with realism? Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine,...

How do we get IR to notice something?

by Peter Henne | Feb 23, 2022 | Academia

I excitedly read this recent tweet by Evan Perkoski of UConn, about a new article he co-authored that has been accepted in International Organization. Beyond being glad for a colleague's success, I was excited by the substance of the publication. They produced a new dataset on violent non-state actors and analyzed the conditions under which they cooperated, finding a major role for both group ideology and religious identity. That is huge! Well-crafted data published in one of the top journals in the sub-field that found that religion drives a crucially important security issue. This should...

On Academic Grudges: A Quack-and-Forth

by Adam B. Lerner | Feb 18, 2022 | Academia, Interviews

The academy is traditionally a place students and scholars go to hone their critical faculties. But perhaps, in some cases, we take this critical approach too far. In this Quack-and-Forth, Adam B. Lerner and Jarrod Hayes discuss academic grudges and whether the academy would be a kinder or gentler place if we all acted a bit more like Larry Bird (and a bit less like Larry David).

Nominations are open for the 2022 Online Achievement in International Studies (OAIS) Awards!

by Peter Trumbore | Feb 14, 2022 | Academia, Awards, Metablogging

After a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, the International Studies Association Online Media Caucus (OMC) is pleased to announce the return of the Duckies! Please send you nominations to onlinemediacaucus@gmail.com by February 25, 2022. We encourage self-nominations. Note that the OMC has updated the awards to reflect the current topography of the online media environment. We now award Duckies in the following categories: Best Blog Post by a Senior Scholar (post-tenure, or a non-tenured scholar active for five years or more)Best Blog Post by a Junior Scholar (pre-tenure, or a...

Joseph Nye 85: From Integration Theory to Complex Interdependence to Soft Power

by Zoltán Fehér | Jan 31, 2022 | Academia, Public Facing, Theory & Methods

Peter Cutler is living the quiet life of a Princeton professor when the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate asks him to become his foreign policy adviser. Cutler takes the job and his gambit pays off: the presidential candidate wins and Cutler is appointed to be Under Secretary of State in the new administration. As he becomes more and more absorbed in the new environment, he is shocked to learn how ruthless political life in Washington really is. When it seems that things cannot get more complicated professionally and personally, Cutler’s ex-girlfriend appears and he falls again for...

In Memoriam: Jon Western

by Dan Nexon | Jan 31, 2022 | Academia, Featured

Back in the Duck of Minerva's heyday, Jon Western was one of its anchors. Indeed, it wasn't that long ago that we were talking about his returning. Jon said that he'd gained important perspective on the state of higher education from his time as dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke. He wanted to share that with a broader audience. That won't happen. Jon died on Saturday. I don't have the details. Just a forwarded email from Mount Holyoke. It reads: Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,It is with the utmost sorrow that I write to say that, yesterday,...

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