Initial speculation about Nord Stream reveals both the strengths and limitations of using international-relations models to make sense of unfolding events
Why Would Putin Sabotage Nord Stream?
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Recent Posts
Experts, Public Intellectuals, and the Coronavirus
This is a guest post from Peter Verovšek, a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Politics/International Relations at the University of Sheffield The Coronavirus has turned us all into amateur...
Why Have Mainstream IR Journals Largely Ignored Pandemics*
* I have changed the title as I got plenty of pushback on twitter--that there is plenty of IR on Pandemics, not just in the major journals. And I will add an update at the bottom later to address...
Take a lesson from Hong Kong: don’t wait for your government, save yourselves from COVID-19
This is a guest post from Karen A. Grépin, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong As cases of COVID-19 soar globally, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan have garnered...
More Recent Posts
Tiwesdæg: the Left-hand of Linkage
Tuesday on Lake Champlain In comments, Assaf Moghadam notes that his Studies in Conflict and Terrorism critique of Bob Pape's work is free to download (PDF). In light of the 5 August 40-year anniversary of the LTBT, the National Security Archive notes its 2003 collection, "The Making of the...
My Enduring Rivalry Endures: What is a Credible Signal Anyhow?
Previously, on Rathbun’s Enduring Rivalry: Brian is locked in an enduring rivalry with this neighbors in which he does not really understand why they are mad at him and why they won’t take yes for an answer, which makes him really, really mad and inclined to do anything possible to drive them...
What Caused the Iraq War? Debs and Monteiro reply to Lake (Part III)
The effects of U.S. power preponderance, combined with 9/11, increased the likelihood of a preventive war against Iraq.
Walter Russell Mead Defends, Badly, the NSF cuts to Political Science
I’ve defended Mead before on this site. I think he is a bright conservative who stands out in a sea of Fox News ideological bleh, like NewsMax or Drudge. He has a far better sense of the importance of religion in many people’s lives than academics do, and he has a good feel for western classical...
Pragmatism and Game Theory, Part 1
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Eric Grynaviski, who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. The recurring debate on this blog has centered on some of the bigger themes about the relationship between rational choice theory and game theory. I argued...
Monday Morning Linkage
Good morning... Aileen Blanley writes about Nisha Pahuja's attempt to film a camp run by Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Through physical combat training and lectures, the group aims to transform girls in to "tigers." The camp girls tigers sing: "Ask for milk,...
Ultimate APSA 2013
APSA-goers: the ultimate frisbee game will be Saturday, August 31st, at 10am at 11th and Michigan (this is an update). I don't know exactly on what softball field we will set up--depends on what else is going on that morning, but we should be able to find some space. Email me at...
Syria: Intervening Not Now But Later
A full-scale US military intervention in Syria is off the table, as is a no-fly zone. The US decision to provide arms to Syrian opposition forces is nonetheless intended to shift the military initiative away from Assad regime. But the opposition is splintered, which has allowed the...
Friday Nerd Blogging: The Chosen One
If there is one bit of recent pop culture that will have enduring value as a common reference in the classroom, it is almost certainly Harry Potter.* Since his fictional 33rd birthday was this week, here's this week's FNB: * Not to mention that our Father Duck co-edited a volume on HP and...
Put Middle East Peace Process to a Vote
Always good to start out blogging with a non-controversial topic, like the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But just before the Israeli Knesset went into recess, they advanced a bill requiring that any land ceded in a peace process be approved in a national referendum. The bill could become a...
Friday Morning Linkage
Still trying to make sense of Benghazi. Some inside info on the mixed messages coming from Obama's Syrian policy. Meanwhile, Assad opens an Instagram account. More mixed messages from the Obama administration on drones, too. This can't be good. A lot of congressional staffers don't see a link...
Thursday Midmorning Linkage
Here is your Thursday late morning linkage. Let's start with a couple of stories about getting out to the field. Kim Yi Dionne writes about the challenges of taking her toddler to Malawi during field work (on second thought, maybe not!) U.S. diplomats confined to Kabul and can't visit aid projects...