When it comes to quantitative data in conflict studies, standards for collection, reliability, ethics, and usage remain behind the curve. We discuss five things that scholars can do to address these gaps.
Like everyone else, I'm still trying to catch up after the Thanksgiving holiday. So I have a quick, kind of speculative post this week. It looks like the distressing saga of Matthew Hedges has...
The US Congress recently introduced bills that would call on the Trump Administration to press China over its treatment of the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. This would seem to be a...
I've been watching the current debate over nationalism with some interest. Donald Trump identified himself as a nationalist in the run-up to the mid-term elections. He contrasted this with his foes,...
2012 interview with Alexander Cooley, focused on Central Asian politics.
There is KJI in the middle – he was even born in uniform Actually, he was probably born in the USSR during the war. Here are parts one and two of this series. 5. Pyongyang the Potemkin Village? The usual line is that Pyongyang is a potemkin village compared to the rest of the country. I can’t...
I have 50+ similar pictures of me standing with KIS murals, statues, busts...I went to NK this summer. In my first post, I noted how NK should probably be re-named Kim-land. Here are some more impressions:1.a. Kim Jong Un was not so emphasized.In passing, it is worth noting that KJU was not...
My North Korean VisaIn August, I visited North Korea for the first time. It was the most unique travelling experience I’ve ever had. I’d certainly recommend it to political scientists and Asia experts, but it wasn’t anything close to a ‘vacation’ or break or anything like that. (Yes, some of the...
Dear Leader Kim Jong Un addresses the ruling partyI didn't watch the Republican Convention last night, because I'm not getting paid to do so. I understand that conservatives think it was a hit and liberals a travesty, although the Romney-Ryan campaign's invocation of AC/DC to prove their cool guy...
With the loss of the drinking intellectual stimulation that comes from APSA, I'm in need of some inspiration to kick start the semester that begins next week. We all know that academic life is full of adventure, comedy, human drama, and conflict. So, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a decent...
Even the Evil League of Evil has peer review.One of the laziest sneers directed at us social scientists who use math and statistics in our research is that we suffer from "physics envy."Ha! It sounds like penis envy! It's a quip that will slay them dead around the seminar table!Well, I do use math...
PTJ and Dan discuss academic administration and the foreign-policy rhetoric of the 2012 campaign.
Who will win in a world of .... LASER CATS andhegemonic stability theory?In an interesting thought experiment at Foreign Policy, James R. Holmes (an associate professor at the Naval War College) asks whether China could take Japan on the high seas.In July, China's East Sea Fleet conducted an...
The caption for this photo is, no joke, "All the experts posing for a group photo after the event."So, here's all the experts.Conventional wisdom from a foreign-policy expert: It is one of the truisms of our time that because of the sensational development of communications and transportation, the...
Just say no to theory.Parents: Are you worried that your college students aren't interested in the real world anymore? Are they growing distant from conversations about foreign policy at the dinner table? Are your college students getting involved with international relations theory? Could it lead...
2012 interview with Ted Hopf.