Foreign Affairs ran a poll on the question. A few of us expressed skepticism about the debate itself.
Was NATO expansion a mistake?
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Recent Posts
Yes, the UN Human Rights Council Helps Dictators . . . and the US Withdrawal Will Make It Worse
This post in the Bridging the Gap series comes from Peter Henne, Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont and a 2017 participant in BTG's International Policy Summer Institute. Earlier this...
#Metoo: The Realities of 25 Years and the Challenges Ahead
This is a post from the Duck's Stephen M. Saideman, Paterson Chair In International Affairs, Carleton University. This is the fourth in the series on #metooacademia It is not surprising that #Metoo...
Pressing politics: #metoo and UK Universities
This is a guest post from Katharine A. M. Wright, a Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University. Her research focuses on gender and international security institutions, including...
More Recent Posts
Crowdsource Syllabus: Advanced IR Theory (Updated)
I'm teaching a PhD-level advanced IR theory class next semester, and my syllabus is growing a bit stale. The idea of the course is to cover recent-ish topics (and necessary background, when appropriate) of importance in the subfield. For example, I usually do a week on "the practice turn," a week...
Kajaki and Power Politics
Like the ancient Greco-Buddhist colossi of Bamiyan, the High-Modernist era Kajaki dam is a product of foreign influences and has been a mute witness as well as an occasional victim of domestic political disarray and failed attempts to integrate and incorporate Afghanistan into contending spheres...
Russia’s Elections
Haven't had time to form serious thoughts on the matter, so outsourced to the Power Vertical.
Popular Culture and Politics: Russian Perceptions of the Near Abroad
RFE/RL carries an interview with Susan Layton on her book, Russian Literature and the Empire. A sample:Russian national consciousness began developing in the 18th century, on contact with foreign non-national entities. From the time of Peter the Great, Western Europe played the central role as a...
Intervention and Prudence
Finally after a busy teaching term I've got a chance to add some thoughts to the great post and articles by Jon Western and Joshua Goldstein on humanitarian intervention. Bottom line: I think Jon and Joshua make a robust case that not only can intervention work, but that the international...
Pearl Harbor, 70 Years On
I was lucky enough to play a small part in a Radio 4 documentary that went to air yesterday on the 70th anniversary of the surprise attack by Imperial Japan on Pearl Harbor. Here it is on iplayer.
Transitioning Toward Anarchy
The second phase of the transition of security responsibility from ISAF/NATO to Afghan Security Forces has begun (the first phase began in July 2011). This means that roughly 50% of the population will now be under the protection of Afghan troops.Some of the areas being handed over are still...
Editing an Incident
The chasm between Pakistani and Western reactions to last week's NATO attack on Pakistani forces seems to be growing if official actions/statements, media reports, conversations with friends on all sides, and ad hominem twitter flame wars are any indication.It goes without saying that Pakistanis...
The Indo-Pacific
The term "Indo-Pacific" has been used since the mid-seventies, mainly to refer to a biological ecosystem. In the last few years, however, "Indo-Pacific" has come to describe a set of interrelated maritime security challenges from the East China Sea to the Arabian Sea -- particularly as India's...
Friday Nerd Blogging
On this weekend, I thank HBO for this early Festivus present:Nice plug for the personal being political. Told you Game of Thrones was all about feminist theory...
India: The “Dispensable Nation” in Southeast Asia?
I remember once when I was exploring the Indian hill station of Shillong in Meghalaya, I read a random factoid in a guide book which said the town was geographically closer to Hanoi than Delhi. It was not actually very difficult to believe that in the remote states of Northeast India, the...
PTJ Talks (Theory)!
Theory Talks interviewed PTJ. Go check out the results. A sample: I don’t have some kind of extraordinary experience fueling my interest… It’s an old insight about how the United States, if you’re a citizen of the US, you can kind of ignore the rest of the world—it’s the privilege of empire or...