How a shift in tactical orientation by activists opposing the border camps might make all the difference.
The Enemy’s Gate is Down
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Tweets of the Week #3
It's the weekend, so it's time for the third edition of “Tweets of the Week.” My twitter feed was again filled with some interesting micro-blogging. By the way, I apologize for the way last week's...
Ready for the Weekend Quasi-Linkage: Are Political Scientists Useless?
Steve and I had a good Twitter exchange with Tom Ricks about whether or not political science is useless to policymakers, particularly quantitative work and modeling. I thought this exchange was...
Neoliberalizing the academy
Josh’s post on his experience with course evaluations has gotten me thinking about the practice of using course evaluations. Because my personal circumstances differ from Josh’s (e.g. I do not have...
More Featured Posts
What if US/Japan Try to Shoot Down a North Korean Missile & They Miss?
If the Japanese miss but take out MTV & Jersey Shore instead, that would still be ok I think my toaster has more computing power than that guidance system… I thought the North Koreans would launch a test missile on the ‘Day of the Sun’ – that would be Kim Il Sung’s birthday for you imperialist running-dogs yet lacking in proper ideological orientation. But I still think it’s likely. So my confidence was raised when I re-watched Spies Like Us as a primer on US BMD technology. I feel better already, and that kid who says ‘Excellent!’ was pretty much me in 8th grade. Finally, I think...
Oh crap, I think I am in an enduring rivalry
I think one of the most interesting findings in all of international relations scholarship is that the disproportionate share of conflict in the international system is comprised of a few dyads fighting over and over, what are known as “enduring rivalries.” These are highly emotional conflicts in which countries are found to fight because they have fought before, not because of the presence of some tangible and intractable conflict of interest. I avoided this work for a long, long time for a number of reasons. First, “rivalries” is a terrible, terrible moniker for what is being described and...
An Open Letter to Someone Contemplating a PhD and Parenting
Dear PhD Prospective (with kids or thinking about kids), Thanks for contacting me. It sounds like you missed Steve Saideman’s sage advice and are actually going to be trying to get a PhD in political science. Many top people in the discipline will keep working to discourage you from attending – with your best interest at heart – but it sounds like you aren’t going to take their advice to avoid a PhD altogether.[1] So, welcome aboard! It’s a fun profession and you’re just at the starting line. It also appears that you are either (a) a parent already or (b) thinking about becoming a...
Theory Section Redux
I want to remind interested parties that we've posted a call for suggestions for (1) the ISA Theory Section's "Distinguished Scholar" of 2014 and (2) the wording of the book prize. Vocal parties at the 2013 business meeting called for democratizing the process via this kind of mechanism; it would be a shame if Schmitt trumped Habermas when it came to these issues. Also of note.... Check out Discourses on the Otter, which deserves some kind of special achievement award from the Theory Section.
Tracking and Political-Science Journal Accountability
(click on the image to enlarge) I'm usually cautious about linking to anything in the PSJR/PSR family of sites, but this strikes me as pretty interesting: a wiki devoted to tracking political-science journals. Contributors note the journal, the turnaround time, and information about what happened to the article. Despite the promulgation of end-of-year journal reports, the submission-to-review-to-outcome process remains a mystery to many. In general, more information is a good thing -- especially considering how much influence peer-reviewed publications have on the allocation of status,...
Monday Morning Linkage
Good morning ducks! Here are your links... Even more well off people will be able to exempt themselves from TSA's airport security theater thanks to Visa credit cards. Well, it's not like potential hijackers could afford the annual fee or first-class tickets anyway. Oh wait... Do you enjoy being frisked, finger printed, and rapiscanned at airports? Then you'll be delighted to know that Homeland Security will be expanding its use of biometrics to US immigration offices. Already a citizen? Great! Because the FBI is planning to amass data on US citizens gathered by law enforcement...
What will the North Korean Military do if Japan Shoots Down the Missile Launch?
A few days ago, I predicted there would be no war, probably because I’m lazy and predicting the future will be the same as the present is an easy way to protect my credibility. But I got some criticism that I was a dippy academic who doesn’t see how dangerous the situation really is. And if I am wrong, I won’t be around to see it anyway; I’ll be swimming for Japan. So here is the most likely escalation pathway I can see, despite my firm conviction the North Koreans do not want a war, because they will lose badly and quickly, and then face the hangman in Southern prisons. I noted that...
Saturday Morning Linkage
The above video includes Sean Kay speaking about US-European relations and international security. Kelsey Davenport: "How to Read the North Korean Nuclear Missile Threat." Scott Harold and Lowell Schwartz: "A Russia-China Alliance Brewing?" More Sino-Russian cooperation on alcohol production would be awesome! The National Security Archive has a nice roundup of their materials concerning discussions between Thatcher and Gorbachev. Spoiler: the 'no German unification' agreement seems to have failed. And also: Holy !!#~@#! Has it really been two months since I put up an interview at New Books...