Why and how do authoritarian regimes manage their image abroad?
6+1 Questions About MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR Dictatorship
read more
Featured
Never Too Early for a Crisis in Civil-Military Relations
To be clear, the latest news is "intra-civilian" but is likely to cross over given the stakes. Remember the old days where the "smart" Bolsheviks left the personnel and other boring issues to...
ISA Conferences in Trump’s America
In conversations with friends, I quickly realized that the International Studies Association faces some significant problems ahead. The advent of the Trump administration is likely to lead to two...
A Plea for Cease Fire in the New American Civil War, Part II—The Case for Civility and a Changed Tone of Debate
Consider these two presidential statements: “Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do....
More Featured Posts
Some Personal Reflections on Social Media and Tenure
Editor's note: this post first appeared on my personal blog. As some of you may know, I'm up for tenure this year, and it's not going to work out. I don't want to get into the details of anything that ought not be discussed in public, but I thought I'd share some quick thoughts that some of you might find to be of interest. First, to the best of my understanding, my presence on social media played little to no role in this decision. So if there's still fear out there that blogging comes at a price, please don't point to my case as an example. I don't know exactly why this happened, and...
NYT and Poli Sci Public Engagement
The ISA mess is the gift that keeps on giving. Now Nicholas Kristof has written a piece in his NYT column that "addresses" the controversy. The problem is that the column is out of date. Not just in focusing on the ISA proposal that has been beaten back by the forces of reason (that would be me and other bloggers?), but that other canards get lumped in. While some noted bloggers have been denied tenure, it is highly unlikely that their blogging did them in. Indeed, there is more pressure by lots of folks (presidents, provosts, deans, grant agencies) to do more outreach. And there is...
The Pivot to Asia: Some Tough Questions
The so-called Pivot to Asia, or "rebalance" in official parlance, has been one of the Obama Administration's signature strategic moves on the global chessboard. But for all the serious engagement of the Pacific Rim countries, the core of the pivot has always been about China and responding to its rise as a regional and proto global power. U.S. intentions aside, China has accused the U.S. of using the pivot as a form of neo-containment of itself. The containment of the Soviet Union during the Cold War ultimately proved to be a stabilizing strategic move by the U.S. and its western allies....
Classroom Activity: Thinking Strategically
This third activity comes after students are to have listened to a lecture on game theory (slides). Look below the fold for details. First, I asked them to fully characterize the optimal strategy for player 1 in the following modified centipede game, assuming player 2 adopts their optimal strategy. That second part is important, and I stressed it quite a bit. I particularly made sure it was clear that I wasn't asking them to imagine that they were playing this game with a friend. I did this because I knew that some students would argue that their answers made more sense than the one I was...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Winter Olympic Edition
I was trying to find a good Star Wars-Valentine's Day mash up and failed. And then I thought, what would Brian Boitano do? [NFSW-words] Old oldie but a goodie. Enjoy the games and enjoy the excuse to eat lots of chocolate and smooch them if you got 'em.
Thursday Linkage – China’s Environmental Impact Edition
I came across this news story which underscored to me the challenges that the Chinese government has in confronting their air quality problem, what I previously likened to rapidly turning a supertanker. An official Chinese study described Beijing air as "barely suitable" for living, the second worst of 40 global cities. In response to last year's "airpocalypse" and on-going concerns that pollution may constitute a threat to regime stability, the Chinese government is rolling out a series of measures to come to grips with its pollution problem and deal with the oft-reported weakness in the...
Guest Post: Considering the BDS Movement from a Human Rights Perspective
The following is a guest post by Joel R. Pruce, a post-doctoral fellow in human rights studies at the University of Dayton. The transnational movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel continues to capture headlines and prompt crucial debate on the status of Palestinian claims to national self-determination and individual human rights protection, and the global public’s moral responsibility with respect to the ongoing conflict. Recent episodes, including the academic boycott passed by the American Studies Association and the SodaStream/ScarJo/Oxfam love triangle,...
Tuesday Noon-ish Linkage
As it is my turn again for Tuesday links, heaps of NATO and security stuff dwell below. I am most NATO-obsessed these promoting my new book with Dave Auerswald so I was interested in seeing that NATO is the preferred organization for peace-keeping a potential Israeli-Palestianian agreement. Speaking of NATO, the Balkans continue to be a mixed outcome. The Serb Prime Minister said that reconciliation with Kosovo is possible but not recognition of its independence. Syria, where NATO has not deigned to go, continues to suffer. And the pain may be shared as Salehyan and Gleditsch extend their...