Professor Julie Kaarbo (U. of Edinburgh) discusses role theory, the relationship between FPA and IR theory, and a new project she is calling Breaking Bad. As always thanks go to Steve Dancz (https://stevedancz.com) for our theme music.
After you have seen the fall foliage at ISS-ISAC, why not see beautiful St. Louis, MO in November? ISA-Midwest - my FAVORITE conference - is November 19th - 22nd. Deadline for submissions is July...
The following is a guest post by Jeffrey C. Isaac, the James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. What constitutes important political science...
Hello there! I'm very excited to be blogging here at Duck of Minerva for the next several months, and I'd like to thank all the full-time Ducks for the opportunity! For my first post, I thought I'd...
Yesterday, four Neo-Nazis were finally sentenced for their roles in a series of brutal killings of Roma families in Hungary in 2008 and 2009. Although the convictions have been applauded as a human rights victory, advocates are still demanding that Hungary steps up to the plate and protects the rights of Roma, a historically at-risk minority. The killings were not isolated events against Roma in Hungary; other discriminatory actions have been occurring, without punitive consequences, for quite some time. Why are Roma still discriminated against in Hungary? Hungary is an EU state. The...
Tuesday on Lake Champlain In comments, Assaf Moghadam notes that his Studies in Conflict and Terrorism critique of Bob Pape's work is free to download (PDF). In light of the 5 August 40-year anniversary of the LTBT, the National Security Archive notes its 2003 collection, "The Making of the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1958-1963." Erin Jenne compares and contrasts ethnic politics in Macedonia and Kosovo. Tom Murphy notes the prevalence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in North Korea. Joshua Foust blasts The Guardian for continued problems in its coverage of the NSA-Snowden-panoptican...
Previously, on Rathbun’s Enduring Rivalry: Brian is locked in an enduring rivalry with this neighbors in which he does not really understand why they are mad at him and why they won’t take yes for an answer, which makes him really, really mad and inclined to do anything possible to drive them crazy and make them look stupid. As it always does, this takes the form of ridiculing their behavior through the construction of yard tableaus that mock the triviality of their complaints. Another neighbor calls it the “best public art installation in the history of Stratford Avenue.” Brian appreciates...
The effects of U.S. power preponderance, combined with 9/11, increased the likelihood of a preventive war against Iraq.
I’ve defended Mead before on this site. I think he is a bright conservative who stands out in a sea of Fox News ideological bleh, like NewsMax or Drudge. He has a far better sense of the importance of religion in many people’s lives than academics do, and he has a good feel for western classical history that adds historical depth to a lot of his blogging. I read him regularly, where I stumbled on this defense of the coming NSF cuts in political science. Money quote: Political scientists should know better: university faculties ultimately depend on taxpayers and their representatives for many...
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Eric Grynaviski, who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. The recurring debate on this blog has centered on some of the bigger themes about the relationship between rational choice theory and game theory. I argued in an earlier post that when one focuses in on the specific logic of rational choice theory and/or game theory, getting away from its abstract characterizations, there are some similarities about the way it understands society with alternative approaches. In this post, I want to focus on a more...
Good morning... Aileen Blanley writes about Nisha Pahuja's attempt to film a camp run by Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Through physical combat training and lectures, the group aims to transform girls in to "tigers." The camp girls tigers sing: "Ask for milk, we’ll give you kheer, ask for Kashmir, we’ll slit your throats." Blanley argues that Pahuja's film "... succeeds in showing the camp’s ironic function as a safe house for adolescent minds and bodies at war with gender expectations—a space in which oppressive domestic and gender protocols are...
APSA-goers: the ultimate frisbee game will be Saturday, August 31st, at 10am at 11th and Michigan (this is an update). I don't know exactly on what softball field we will set up--depends on what else is going on that morning, but we should be able to find some space. Email me at steve_saideman@carleton.ca for details on that day or just look for the shaggy, slower ultimate game (if there are any others out there at the same time). No cleats, just bring two shirts--one dark and one light--and I will bring the cones and disks. Oh, and you can bring the ice, Vitamin I(bruprofen) and the...