Anne Harrington and Jacqueline (Jill) Hazelton take center stage in the inaugural G&T episode.
Duck Podcast G&T series episode 1: Power, realism, and the politics of IR Academia
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The problem of authority
Josh’s excellent tripartite (1, 2, 3) discussion of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy record in conjunction with with the narratives of Putin’s strategic leadership accompanying Russian...
The Destruction of Alderaan Was Not Justified
This is a guest post by Luke M. Perez, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin where he studies religion, ethics, and foreign policy. Luke is also a graduate fellow at the Clements...
Killing the Occupation Analogy
I have spent much time here at the Spew discussing various analogies and kinds of analogies, including how IR can be like tacos and how to make a good IR pop culture analogy. I love using...
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Make Love and War? Sex and Syria …
Among the more famous anti-war slogans in the US is the 1960s' declaration of "make love, not war." I found myself thinking about that phrase when a student sent me a link to the Daily Show on Monday - where Jon Stewart made some insightful comments about sex, gender, and the presumably impending military action in Syria. And yes, I used the words "insightful comments" to describe something Jon Stewart said. Those of you who know me know how hard that was to say. But his description works for me .... and suggests that "make love not war" is actually a false dichotomy. After playing a group...
Thursday Morning Linkage
It's morning somewhere right? With military action possibly pending in Syria amidst a horrible ongoing civil war, I needed a more hopeful photo to accompany this post of news links (hence the duck and the kitten). But, the news out there is pretty grim so here are some links on Syria, the links between drought and the war in Syria, climate change and violence, and what happened to Al Gore on climate change. Aaron David Miller makes the case that Obama had to go to Congress and made a virtue out of necessity Under these circumstances, Obama has been risk-averse not because he's flawed,...
Special Event: “The End of IR Theory” Symposium
It is with great pleasure that I announce the start of a special collaboration among the European Journal of International Relations, SAGE Journals, and the Duck of Minerva: The "End of IR Theory" Symposium. A number of developments over the past few years spurred Colin Wight, Lene Hansen, and Tim Dunne to dedicate a special issue of EJIR to the subject of the state of International Relations (IR) theory. If all goes smoothly, that issue has been released and will be ungated for the next month. The Duck of Minerva is publishing a companion symposium. Our aim? To spur discussion, provoke...
Ducks Ducks Everywhere
To help offset the departure of two permanent contributors, we would like to welcome a few extra additions to our guest blogging pool. Burcu Ayten Bayram is Assistant Professor at University of Texas-Arlington, specializing in international organizations, political psychology, identities and global justice. She works with quantitative methods including survey and experimental methods. Her current research project examines when and why decision-makers develop a sense of obligation towards international law and how this fidelity to law shapes their compliance preferences. When not researching,...
Does it Pay to Divide and Conquer?
The intuition behind the maxim divide et impera is clear.  If they're busy fighting each other, they not fighting you.  And that's obviously in your interest (assuming, that is, you are some sort of occupier or metropole seeking to extract rents from a local population.)  Devious and underhanded?  Sure.  Morally repugnant?  If you're inclined to view politics through such a lens.  But effective?  Self-evidently. Or so you might think. Brenton Kenkel, a University of Rochester doctoral student currently on fellowship at Princeton, argues otherwise in this fascinating working paper. To...
New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy Interview with Ben Hatke
In addition to phasing out of the Duck of Minerva, I've also been slowing down my activities at New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The channel has a new host, Michael Zummo, who has taken over most responsibilities. Still, I'm not entirely done. I have a new interview up with Ben Hatke. Hatke is the author and illustrator of the very successful all-ages graphic novels, Zita the Spacegirl and Legends of Zita the Spacegirl. There's a story behind the interview. Once every few weeks I take my daughter to Big Planet Comics. One afternoon we made an impulsive trip there only to be greeted...
Wednesday Addams Linkage
There's linkage! Allies release details of alleged Syrian chemical attacks. There have been many of them and they have killed a lot of people. [The New York Times] As Charli mentioned yesterday, congressional debate on Syria shows new support for an attack. Poignant: Kerry invoking his and Hagel's votes for Iraq as evidence that they would not mislead Congress based on faulty intelligence. [The New York Times] Egypt's interim government imprisons dozens in kangaroo courts. Also:Three satellite networks ordered closed on Tuesday were linked to the Islamists, and the fourth was the channel...
Belated Tuesday Linkage
Syria Boehner is backing Obama after this briefing. via CIVIC, the unclassified version of the USG's assessment of the Ghouta attack. Drezner on IR theory in practice. Academica The politics of academic salaries. Via. Rising star Dara Kay Cohen is featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education for her pathbreaking work as a scholar/public intellectual of wartime sexual violence. Unfortunately article is paywalled. I skipped APSA but learned via Phil Arena on Facebook of this terrific paper presented by Bear Braumoeller arguing against the declining war thesis. Goes to show Drezner is right...