What if how presidents talk about ending wars contributes to the cycle of U.S. military intervention? Stephen J. Heidt answers 6+1 questions about his new book.
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...
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...
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....
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...
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,...
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...
Thanks to all of you who voted over the past month for this year's OAIS Blogging Awards finalists. And a very special thanks to all of the nominees for transforming this platform into a strong and vital part of the IR intellectual community. We had an outstanding class of nominees this year -- a real testimony to the impressive talent and intellectual contribution that blogging makes to the IR profession. We had a great turn-out and some very close votes, and we're pleased to announce this year's finalists. Finalists will now be reviewed by a panel of judges that includes last year's winners...
Hello Ducks... here are your Monday links... Theory Talks #63 interviews Siddharth Mallavarapu on "International Asymmetries, Ethnocentrism, and a View on IR from India." Oliver Stuenkel asks whether Intra-BRICS cooperation can advance amid economic gloom? Shanthie Mariet D'Souza gives India four scenarios for Afghanistan in the run up to the 2014 elections. Corey Robin asks whether Bob Dahl really did define politics as “The process that determines the authoritative allocation of values.” (Answer: No.) Election campaign posters in Indonesia incorporate Kung-Fu Panda for some reason......
Have Duck readers been following the latest glitch in U.S.-European relations? Josh mentioned it in his recent roundup. Here's how the Washington Post explained the story: On Thursday, a video was posted on YouTube in which Victoria Nuland,, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, disparagingly dismissed European Union efforts to mediate the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine by bluntly saying, “F--- the E.U." On Friday, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, through press attache Christiane Wirtz, described the gaffe as “absolutely unacceptable,” and defended the efforts of Catherine Ashton, the E.U.’s...
Editor's note: this post originally appeared on my personal blog. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've decided to try "flipping the classroom" this semester, meaning I'm posting the lectures online and using class time mostly for activities that reinforce core concepts and create incentives for students to keep up with the lectures from week to week. Look below the fold for a description of the second activity, which concerns the interpretation of regression results. First, I described the data I analyzed, which the students themselves provided to me last week (anonymously). Height is...
Fans must content themselves with some trivia this week. Here are "15 Things [Most People] Don't Know About Game of Thrones."