Back in 2019, Uri Friedman wrote that we “find ourselves—as you will have heard in the corridors …
Episode 31: Great Balls of Power
read more
Recent Posts
Adam Sandler and the Rise of the Rest: Theoretical Myopia and the Liberal International Order
Film critics have approached Adam Sandler’s films the same way that IR scholars have analyzed the rise and fall of the Liberal International Order (LIO)
Recentering the Catholic Church in European State Transformation
Did the study of state formation ever lose its religion? There’s a new wave of interest in the Catholic Church as an institutional formation.
How Quals can avoid becoming our own worst enemies
Simple steps to promote qualitative research in journals It happened again. After months of waiting, you finally got that "Decision" email: Rejection. That's not so bad, it happens to everyone. But...
More Recent Posts
Ethnic Security Dilemma Regrets
One of the regrets of my career is that I was developing the ethnic security dilemma concept the same time as Barry Posen, who published his in Survival in 1993. As I prepared for my comprehensive exams in 1991 in IR and Comparative Politics, I focused on ethnic politics for the latter exam. I...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Winter is Coming to #ISA2015
More information about the genesis of this panel here. Paper abstracts here. Hope to see you February 18 in the Grand Salon 3 at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans at 4:00!
Constructivism and the tension within
My first post of the new year (hey, it is still January!) is a bit IR theory geek-ish, so apologies to readers who do not follow those arcane discussions. About two weeks ago I participated in a workshop on constructivism at USC. Not surprisingly given the caliber of the people around the table,...
WHO is responsible for the failure on Ebola?
Nathan Paxton has a provocative post on The Monkey Cage where he suggests, among other things that the World Health Organization (WHO) is not to blame for the Ebola crisis. Rather, he lays the blame squarely on donor countries. He rightly notes that the WHO's budget and staff was cut after the...
SOTU: Cyber What?
In last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama briefly reiterated the point that Congress has an obligation to pass some sort of legislation that would enable cybersecurity to protect “our networks”, our intellectual property and “our kids.” The proposal appears to be a reiteration...
Counting on the Media: A Reply to Mack and Pinker
It's always nice to read good news. And it's nice to read evidence-based arguments in the popular press. Over the holiday, Andrew Mack and Steven Pinker offered a little of each over the holidays in their article "The World Is Not Falling Apart." Therein, they marshal of human security indicators...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...