Readers of the Duck will be very familiar with Duck editor Josh Busby's commentary on climate change and security, U.S. foreign policy, and a host of other topics. Earlier this year, Bridging the Gap (BTG) awarded Josh a Policy Engagement Fellowship (PEF). The purpose...
[Please note: this is a guest post by Alison Howell, Rutgers University- Newark] The recent WHO designation of polio as a ‘global public health emergency’ has reignited debate as to whether the...
One of the more depressing elements in the narrative at the CCWUN Experts' Meeting this week has been the argument, repeated by a number of autonomous weapons proponents both in plenary and...
A common refrain from critics of the campaign to ban autonomous weapons is that these weapons are "inevitable." If that's true, then efforts to mitigate or pre-empt their use are not just a waste of...
Huzzah! Barack Obama in his re-election night valedictory speech finally acknowledged that climate change is a problem we may have to attend to: We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. I seem to recall that candidate Obama said something audacious calling on the global community to prevent the oceans from rising and to save the planet. After four years of America's sausage grinders whittling away at hope and change, can the president finally deliver measures...
US "combat operations" in Afghanistan are officially scheduled to wind down in 2014.  And media attention is now turning toward speculating (i.e. relaying contending institutional preferences between the White House and the Pentagon) on the level of US troop presence in Afghanistan after 2014.  Current estimates, in case you still care, are that US troop levels will be roughly around 10,000 assisted by a couple thousand NATO troops -- assuming, of course, that President Karzai agrees to prolong the suspension of his country's full sovereignty.  For next year, however, it is likely that at...
I've long warned promised that I would start flogging these awards in a serious way. Due, in part to some prodding from SAGE, that time has now come. Here's where we stand: Nominees for Best Blog (Group): Abu Muqawama Arms Control Wonk Crooked Timber The Disorder of Things IPE at UNC Kings of War Nominees for Best Blog (Individual): Dart-Throwing Chimp (Jay Ulfelder) Abu Aardvark's Middle East Blog (Marc Lynch) Chris Blattman International Political Economy Zone (Emmanuel Yujuico) M. Taylor Favrel Phil Arena's Blog Saideman's Semi-Spew (Steve Saideman) Slouching Toward Columbia (Daniel...
Robert Gallucci, head of the MacArthur Foundation and former Dean of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, lays out his view of "How Scholars Can Improve International Relations." Adam Elkus scores the "winners and losers" in the Gaza conflict. Matt Fay answers Max Boot's response to his criticisms of comparisons between Iron Dome and US BMD. China's successful aircraft carrier flight landing at China Defense Blog. More from Rob Farley on the PRC's "fully armed and operational aircraft carrier." At 3QD, Elisabeth Rehn argues for better integrating women into peace processes. And also:...
Yesterday, climate activist and environmental writer Bill McKibben tweeted a link to this eye-opening graphic: In many ways, this chart is merely another disturbing bit of information about weather in a year of shocking weather news. The United States experienced a record drought this summer -- and many areas are still facing tremendous water shortages. As a fairly direct consequence, the U.S. also suffered near-record wildfires this year, burning a total area "roughly the size of the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined." The Weather Underground Director, Dr. Jeff Master,...
The James Bond movies aren't the first place most would look to learn about masculinity; it's an action movie, the special effects are always amazing, and most of us just leave the gender analysis at home...BUT just humor me for one scene. In my view the best part of an otherwise mediocre movie (sorry super-Bond fans!) is when Bond is confronted by the ultimate villain, Silver (played spectacularly by Javier Bardem). Silver is a unique antihero, he meditates, he often speaks in a high pitch voice, he giggles, in many ways he is- well- effeminate. In his intro scene he snuggles up to a...
Now something of a cliche, but still one of the best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk&sns=em
I've been curious why John McCain is pursuing Susan Rice with such a vengeance for her inopportune remarks on Sunday talk shows in September about the not-so spontaneous attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. As I think about other prospective nominees to lead the State Department like John Kerry, John McCain actually has more in common with Ambassador Rice. Susan Rice has been one of the Obama Administration's more ardent interventionists on Libya, Syria, and Darfur. Like McCain, Rice is willing to use military force to prevent atrocities and defend American interests. Liberal...