In 2014, John Mearsheimer authored a Foreign Affairs article in which he blamed that year’s Ukrai…
Episode 22: So a Deputy Foreign Minister and an Academic Realist Walk into a Bar…
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Featured
Ranking Tenure Candidates? No Thanks
Sunday mornings are for tenure reviews. Huh? I am reading stuff to evaluate a scholar for whether he/she is worthy of tenure. This is a standard part of the tenure process--to have...
Moscow in the Meddle
Between the burning Amazon and burning Siberia, Brexit clustercoitus and Hurricane Dorian, there is still some space in the tired news cycle for the tear gas in Hong Kong and broken limbs in Moscow...
Pompeo’s New Commission on Unalienable Rights Falls Short, But Represents a Real Opportunity
The following is a guest post by Dr. Ryan M. Welch. Dr. Welch is Assistant Professor at the University of Tampa who specializes in human rights institutions and is a former member of the Maricopa...
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Vote Now for the 2015 (The Duckies) IR Blogging Awards
It's time to vote! We are asking readers to vote for the finalists in each category. ONce we have finalists for each category, a panel of judges that includes previous years' winners and permanent contributors at Duck of Minerva will select this year's award winners in each category. The winners will be announced at the OAIS Blogging Awards and Reception at the ISA annual convention in New Orleans on Thursday, February 20, 2015. Here's what you need to do. Send us an email at duckofminerva2015 at gmail.com and we will send you a ballot. Simply fill out the ballot and submit it. Voting ends...
Domestic Politics, Climate Change, and International Ambition
Last fall, I wrote about how the U.S. government was insisting that any climate mitigation commitments agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate negotiations be non-binding political pledges. I argued that was appropriate because the high bar for treaty ratification in the U.S. Senate made legally binding commitments unlikely. This kind of soft "pledge and review" approach to climate change first emerged at the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations, often derided by observers as an unsuccessful meeting. Quite the contrary, as I argued in a 2010 piece for the Council on Foreign Relations, Copenhagen...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Belated But Delightful Take on Harry Potter and Feminism
Actually, the title for this post should refer to Hermione Granger since she is the one doing the smashing of patriarchy in this amusing and insightful take on feminism in the world of Harry Potter. The language is not safe for work.
Online Media Caucus Update for ISA 2015
The effort to develop a caucus at the ISA dedicating to Online Media continues. The proposed caucus will be considered at the Governing Council meeting on Tuesday of the ISA this year. I have not received any signs that this will not go through. Consequently, we are having our first business meeting on Saturday, February 21st, 12:30pm in the Hilton's Elmwood room. The meeting will sketch out the plans for the next year and seek advice/feedback on future activities. For your reference, the key documents for applying to be a new caucus are here: the justification and proposed charter. ...
Last Call for Blogging Awards Nominations!
This is the last call for nominations for the best IR-related blogging of 2014. The "Duckies" will be awarded at ISA-New Orleans on Thursday, Feb. 20 at the third annual Duck of Minerva and Sage Blogging Awards and Reception. We need your help and nominations for the best blogging of 2014 in these categories: 1. Best Blog (Group) in IR 2. Best Blog (Individual) in IR 3. Best Blog Post in IR 4. Best New Blogger (Individual) in IR -- this can be anyone new blogging in an individual or group blog. We've got a great list so far, but we're looking for more. Please send us your nominations via...
Autonomous or "Semi" Autonomous Weapons? A Distinction without Difference
Over the New Year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak at an event on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) hosted by the Future of Life Institute. The purpose of the event was to think through the various aspects of the future of AI, from its economic impacts, to its technological abilities, to its legal implications. I was asked to present on autonomous weapons systems and what those systems portend for the future. The thinking was that an autonomous weapon is, after all, one run on some AI software platform, and if autonomous weapons systems continue to proceed on their...
Common Xenophobic Dynamic: Overestimating the Other
I saw this on twitter this evening This is the best visualization I've yet seen of Europe's "Muslim tide" hysteria pic.twitter.com/a681LGp4yR — Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) January 9, 2015 And it reminded me of this slide I used to use for American Public Policy, a course I taught way back in the day at Texas Tech (this figure is from a survey around 1998): The figure, using data from some article lost to the ages, demonstrates that pretty much every ethnic group over-estimates the "Other" except for the largest group. In the slide, everyone underestimated the population of whites in...
ISA Blogging Update: Committee Reports Recommendations
Last winter, the ISA executive committee proposed new rules for editors of ISA journals that would restrict their blogging. This led to a pretty hostile reaction. At the ISA meeting, the proposal was sent to committee. The committee has circulated its report and recommendations. What do they recommend? Basically, the recommendations: suggest some language that would clarify that all ISA officers, including editors, would expected to be professional in their various endeavors. indicate that expectations for blogging would be the same as the expectations for everything else ISA officers...