What's the Title? Lerner, Adam B., 2022. From the Ashes of History: Collective Trauma and the Making of International Politics. Oxford University Press. It argues that? Collective trauma, especially when generated by instances of mass violence, is a foundational...
What is the topography of international-relations theory in the People’s Republic of China? What …
Bridging the Gap team is thrilled to announce the addition of a new member of our leadership team: Fabiana Perera, our new BtG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow. We recently sat down with her...
There’s a battle going down inside the Republican party for what conservative foreign policy ought to be. The problem is that stakeholders in the debate are misrepresenting its terms, and...
Jarrod talks with Georg Löfflmann (University of Warwick) and Frank Stengel (Kiel University) about the changes in German foreign policy in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in particular, about the idea that Germany is experiencing …
Jarrod talks with Georg Löfflmann (University of Warwick) and Frank Stengel (Kiel University) about the changes in German foreign policy in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in particular, about the idea that Germany is experiencing a watershed moment....
I wrapped the 2022 edition of my undergraduate “Grand Strategy” seminar this past Tuesday. This must have the eight or ninth iteration of the class. I like teaching it. I really do. But I have significant reservations about “grand strategy” as a classroom subject. I’m not at all convinced...
We've got a newsletter! Yeah, sure, the large front-page button labelled "newsletter" might've been a clue. But still, the Duck of Minerva is (kinda) on Substack. We're not alone. The old academic and academic-adjacent blogosphere is, apparently, in the process of reconstituting itself over there....
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.
So Japan’s former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, was very friendly with Donald Trump while he was president. The two leaders even played several rounds of golf when they were both in power, despite Trump’s anti-Asian, anti-alliance (and occasionally anti-Japan) disposition. Abe was quoted...
Foreign Affairs ran a poll on the question. A few of us expressed skepticism about the debate itself.
In this “Whiskey Optional” episode, PTJ facilitates a conversation among four colleagues from dif…
What happens when a research subject becomes a research and briefing partner? In 2017, I was contacted by the peacebuilding NGO Peace Direct to contribute to a policy report on community-based atrocities prevention. I invited a local peacebuilder I knew from Colombia to partner with me...
Name of the book...and its coordinates? Ron E. Hassner. 2022. Anatomy of Torture (Ithaca: Cornell University Press) What's the argument? You’re not going to like this book. Some readers may come to this book believing sincerely that “torture doesn’t work.” Others may start from the...
At its core, the current war in Ukraine reflects an incompatibility of nationalist narratives. Many Ukrainians want to escape Russia’s imperial shadow. Putin wants to reextend that shadow – to erase Ukraine as an independent national identity.
The ISA statement lacks not only comparative history but also local historical depth. It also distorts moral responsibility.