Musgrave’s identification of dangerous ideas is correct, but his metaphor risks entrenching the fundamental problem: the (inevitable) weaponization of “scientific objectivity.”
They Blinded Them With Science
read more
Featured
Size Doesn’t Matter
Any woman would tell you that. What matters is what you do with it and whether you know how to use it. Whatever Brobdingnagian thing you’ve got going on there, it’s way more important to have a game...
The top 5 issues in International Politics for 2018
2017 was not a great year for international politics. The sentence I heard the most during conferences and other academic gatherings was that “the global order is in crisis.” Granted. It all started...
Happy New Year
If anybody is planning to collude with some Russians for New Year's (but not in order to swing an election), I compiled a brief checklist. Originally, I wanted to take apart an article from a...
More Featured Posts
Friday Nerd Blogging: Preparing for the Future or the Past
I was a fan of X-Men long before I was a fan of Poli Sci. So, I am eagerly awaiting the chance to see Days of Future Past, which may or may not do kind things to one of the very best X-tales. + For those who have opted out of one or more of the movies, here is a nice, snarky summary of the X-movies to prepare you for the new one (and yes, I have seen all of these): I had much fun thinking about what Graham Allison might say about the role of the mutants in the Cuban Missile Crisis in X-Men First Class. I look forward to over-thinking the new movie. H/T to Vulture
What is to be Done in Nigeria?
This is a follow-up to my earlier post, “Why Foreign Intervention in Nigeria is a Bad Idea.” That post focused on larger issues that make Nigeria a particularly problematic context for foreign involvement of any kind; this post focuses on what policies -- mostly domestic -- might work. In the past week, things have not gotten better with regard to Nigeria and the effort to #Bringbackourgirls. On the US front, the administration began a blessed crawl away from direct US military involvement in Nigeria the day of my earlier post. In last Thursday’s hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations...
Can Democracies Be Trusted with Autonomous Weapons?
Zack Beauchamp followed the CCW Experts Meeting on Autonomous Weapons and concluded: The debate about robots in warfare comes down to the question of whether they would make war crimes more or less likely. There are serious arguments on either side. In many ways, this new argument about robots is an extension of much older argument about why war crimes happen and how to prevent them. This isn't a joke anymore: the debate over military robotics is about preventing horrific abuse of real people. I agree with Zack that this is right way to think about the debate. Proponents of these weapons...
Men in Disarmament Push for Inclusion of Women’s Voices as CCW Process on Autonomous Weapons Moves Forward
The CCW Expert’s Conference on Autonomous Weapons ended yesterday with a draft report from the Chair (France) that set the stage for further discussions in November. For the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a continued discussion had been the primary objective at this stage, so this is good news for campaigners. NGOs were pleased with the inclusion in the document of the term “meaningful human control” as a principle around which to evaluate all weapons systems. Sarah Knuckey has more. The official report from the global coalition is here. A round-up of social media coverage by the coalition...
Ducking Out…
Am I the first to use the pun “ducking out”? I can’t be, someone has to have used that to describe leaving the Duck of Minerva before. Regardless, this brings up two key problems with blogging, the quick move towards the cheap pun and to the tendency to do no actual background research on before a post. I am probably prone to both. In any case, I am moving on from the Duck. I will be moving over to RelationsInternational to help build a new blog. I think blogging is an increasingly important part of our academic jobs and we need more voices in this community. Therefore it is in our...
Note to Controversial Commencement Speakers — Don’t Quit!
Let's face it, most commencement speakers aren't really all that inspiring. Every spring, tens of thousands of graduating seniors, proud parents, faculty, and others sit through seemingly endless speeches filled with those insipid "inspiring life lessons," those essential "kernels of wisdom that will guide graduates through life's challenges," and the hopeful "ten ways this year's class of graduating seniors will change the world." Humor sometimes -- but only sometimes -- helps. And, then occasionally the stars align and we get that memorable commencement -- with a speaker whose presence and...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Godzilla Edition
Brian Cranston and Godzilla apparently did not get along that well: Check out the story here.
Why Foreign Intervention in Nigeria is a Bad Idea
This is the first of two posts about Boko Haram & possible US involvement in Nigerian counterterrorism operations. For the second, see "What is to be done in Nigeria?". Note: two sentences added shortly after publication to clarify that my concerns encompass the full range of foreign intervention, from direct intervention to operational support to limited strikes to an expanded role in shaping Nigerian policy. Yesterday, American drones began flights over northern Nigeria in hopes of locating the 276 girls abducted a month ago from a school in Borno State. American and British...