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
So Call Me Maybe
A recent IR Twitter flare-up occurred on a seemingly innocuous topic illustrated by the flow-chart above: what should I call my professor? A PSA from Prof. Megan L. Cook recommended students to...
The ULTIMATE Academic Job Market Guide
The following is a guest post by K. Anne Watson, a PhD candidate in Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs. The...
Are Generic Drugs Safe? Big Claims in a New Book
I was in the car when the Dallas radio station KERA came on with an interview with the journalist Katherine Eban, author of the new book Bottle of Lies, in which she claims that the...
More Recent Posts
Steve Shapin Reviews Michael Gordin’s The Pseudoscience Wars
As readers might have surmised, a number of the bloggers at the Duck are into the philosophy and history of science. PTJ has written an exceptional book on the philosophy of science in the context of international-relations scholarship. Others of us dabble, with varying degrees of commitment....
Wombs and Periods: the real threat to national security
If you ever thought that emotion, mythology, and the uterus didn’t matter in foreign policy, reading debates about women in the military should change your mind. I expected some debate to ensue when Foreign Affairs agreed to publish an essay called Let Women Fight in their November/December issue...
Sandy and Climate Change: Part II
In my last post, I noted that Hurricane Sandy has finally triggered a vigorous discussion about climate change, prompting much speculation about whether climate change had some role in causing the storm. I expressed some doubt whether this is the right question to ask, as it frequently has...
Thursday Morning Linkage
In honor of the upcoming election: "James K. Polk" by They Might Be Giants. Hot off the presses: Megan H. MacKenzie's Foreign Affairs article that advocates putting women in combat roles. Jason Fritz unloads in "the rank hypocrisy of veterans on OPSEC." This looks like an interesting short course...
Alastair Reynolds, Blue Remembered Earth
I think Duck of Minerva readers will really enjoy this podcast. Lots on the near-future imaginary, technological change, and other topics of interest. From the write up at New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy: Blue Remembered Earth (Gollantz, 2012) takes place roughly 150 years in the future....
Guest Post: What’s Wrong with the Human Security Report and the “Global Decline Claim”
This is a guest post by Amelia Hoover Green (Drexel University), Dara Kay Cohen (Harvard Kennedy School) and Elisabeth Jean Wood (Yale University). See also Megan H. MacKenzie's post and Andrew Mack's reply. tl;dr notice: 3,608 words The Human Security Report (HSR) released last week has attracted...
Halloween 2012, Nexon Style
We prepare to pillage for candy! No one got my costume's reference. So sad. Happy Halloween!
Are Sandy and Climate Change Related? Part I
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there is much discussion about whether climate change was responsible for the storm. I'm not sure this is the right question we need to be asking, unless we think that whether we respond to climate change hinges on an affirmative answer. Let's suspend disbelief...
All Hallows’ Eve Linkage
The impact (so far) of the Syrian civil war on Hizballah (via Andrew Exum). UK conservatives want to export (further) austerity to the EU budget. Steve Saideman's take on the "future of Star Wars." John Scalzi thinks Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm is a good thing for the franchise. PTJ agrees....
Regional Variation in the Explanatory Power of War and Reason
Many conversations about the empirical relevance of game-theoretic models of war begin and end with Bueno de Mesquita and Lalman's War and Reason. That's unfortunate, but it's not exactly surprising. Most game-theoretic studies of war do not include any empirical analysis, whereas War and Reason...
I find your lack of faith…disturbing
Full disclosure: I am incapable of being completely, or even mainly, a detached observer or commentator when discussing either Star Wars or Disney, having grown up largely surrounded by both enterprises in equal measure. Anyone who walks into my office sees, hanging over my computer, two posters:...
ISA-NE Proceeding as Normal
The ISA-NE conference scheduled for 2-3 November in Baltimore, Maryland will take place as scheduled. Official emails are going out. Hope to see attendees there.