Back in 2019, Uri Friedman wrote that we “find ourselves—as you will have heard in the corridors …
Episode 31: Great Balls of Power
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Recent Posts
Give Peacekeeping a Chance in Afghanistan
The best way to secure a more peaceful future for Afghanistan is through a United Nation peacekeeping operation.
The Breakdown of Jewish Consensus – Ethnic Violence in Israel Explained
For Jewish Israeli politicians the temptation to draw back into what is left of the old ethnic consensus will be great. But including the Palestinian citizens in politics and society is the only way to defend Israeli democracy.
A Piece of the Puzzle: The Relative Importance and Unimportance of Academic Contributions to the Policy Process
Academic research can go a long way to shape the debate or can have no effect at all. The problem is that scholars don’t know – and may never know – how their work has been received by policymakers and whether it steered a policy decision in a good or bad direction.
More Recent Posts
Confronting the Putin Doctrine in Full Force
Just as the international community appeared at long last to be taking a stronger stand against Russia, President Putin upped the ante. Unlike its annexation of Crimea, Russia is now in open warfare with Ukraine on its eastern border. There is fresh evidence indicating not only that Malaysian...
Anti-Semitism in Germany: A Comment
“Mutti,” aka Angela Merkel, is not amused. Neither is the rest of the German political establishment, the German media, or the vast majority of German people. Three days ago, some of the protesters against the Israeli campaign in Gaza yelled anti-Semitic hate paroles, a man wearing a kippah was...
Thursday Linkage: Gaza, Russia, Rhinos
This past week has been a doozy for awful international news, and I've been thinking about a post on Gaza, another on Russia, possibly a third on immigration, or staying in my lane of expertise by commenting on wildlife conservation, the environment, and public health. Well, Thursday is upon us,...
Why Do Peacebuilding Interventions Often Fail?
Why do international peacebuilding efforts often fail in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and the Central African Republic? Séverine Autesserre's work in the DRC suggests that a variety of factors explain these disappointments, including peacebuilders' failures to engage in...
The Responsibility to Protect: Israel & Gaza
The London School of Economics Middle Eastern Studies Center recently advertised that it is going to hold a symposium on whether the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine applies to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. In particular, it is gathering a cohort of experts to debate...
What I’ll Be Reading While Off The Grid
As of tomorrow I am turning on my "vacation" auto-responder, ceasing blogging for a bit, and hitting the road for some combined business/leisure. Highlights will include: Some Colorado conference travel to present my research findings to one of the activist communities whose work I profiled in my...
Germany: Beyond Its History, Again
Germany won the World Cup in soccer, demonstrating to all that its team truly is the best in the world. The German players and coaches were dominant, dispatching a succession of opponents with near masterly strategy and skill—including a historic drubbing of the overwhelming local favorite Brazil,...
Generations of Presidential Voting
As we all know, the social sciences are a messy business. People change their minds, don’t always follow law-like rules, and often have the guts to defy our theories by reflecting on their past behavior. For these reasons, it is always nice to see when our work receives support from other...
Israel in Gaza: What’s the Plan?
(Photo by Oliver Weiken—EPA) What's the Israeli plan with all of this? According to the Israeli Defense Forces statement, "The IDF's objective as defined by the Israeli government (in the ground offensive) is to establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Force for Change
A depressing series of news days lately. What can make us feel good? Jon Stewart? Stephen Colbert? Star Wars? How about all three? Yet another reason to regret leaving San Diego--where the Force for Change ends at Comic-Con. May the force ever be in your odds!
Thursday Linkage: Hey! A Non-World Cup/Brazil post
I'm ready to move on from Brazil and football/soccer news. Really I am. Here are some links related to climate change and I've thrown in a link to Will Moore's post about using satellite rain data rather than rain gauge data to track rainfall (the latter may be subject to variation due to...
Meanwhile in Cambodia: The Detention of Mu Sochua
Mu Sochua a leading member of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested on Tuesday along with five others after a demonstration to gain access to Phnom Penh's Freedom Park turned violent in clashes between police and some of the protesters. Sochua was elected to the...