This is the first instalment of a new series of interviews on Duck of Minerva entitled Quack-and-Forths.
Whisk(e)y and Epistemic Pluralism: A Quack-and-Forth (Part I)
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Recent Posts
Preparing Files for Reappointment and Tenure: Some Sharp Guidance
This is a guest post by James Goldgeier, Professor of International Relations and former Dean at the School of International Service at American University, building on a twitter thread that...
On Race, Nationalism and “White Pride” in America
This is a guest post (begun as a set of hasty scribbles on Facebook in the wake of Charlottesville) by Sean Parson, Assistant Professor in the  Departments of Politics and International Affairs and...
Calling New Ducks
As the fall semester approaches, we're looking for a few good Ducks. We'd like to bring on a new slate of guest Duck bloggers to continue to bring IR-related insights to bear on important real world...
More Recent Posts
Iran is like a full moon…
...it brings out the wackos. Via Yglesias:Andy McCarthy correctly observes that if we start a war with Iran, Iran will fight back. Then he mentions offhandedly that "The retaliation we most have to worry about is a nuclear attack against our homeland." A nuclear attack with what? The nuclear bombs...
Deterrence
Washington Post:Escalating the threats between Washington and Tehran, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday that his country would strike U.S. targets around the world in the event it is attacked over its refusals to curb its nuclear program."If the U.S. ventured into any...
A new sign of the apocalypse
The Washington Post:The Senate voted this afternoon to cut some of the money President Bush has requested for the Iraq war and use it instead to increase border patrols against illegal immigrants and buy new boats and helicopters for the Coast Guard.Who voted for it?Mr. Gregg angrily rejected as...
Not such a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, world?
Rob mentions the provocative article in the recent issue of Foreign Affairs by Keir Lieber and Daryl Press on the possible achievement of nuclear primacy by the United States. In the article (as well as a more detailed analysis forthcoming in International Security), the authors claim that[t]oday,...
Doing the people’s work
Ruth Marcus writes about Ted Kennedy as people on the Hill know him: a Senator who pursues bipartisan compromise in the spirit of actually legislating for the common good.Look, there's Ted Kennedy, shoulder-to-shoulder with John McCain, Republican presidential front-runner, just after the collapse...
Now that’s just great…
One of the (many) flaws in the Bush administration's rationale for invading Iraq stemmed from Hussein's history as a vector of proliferation. There wasn't any. In the worst-case scenario, in which Hussein somehow acquired nuclear weapons, we would have little reason to be concerned that he might...
Give ’em the damn money
Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.) decides to take a 'principled stand' and is holding up $10 million dollars necessary to buy the land where a monument to the passengers and crew members of United Flight 93 is to be built.Why is Taylor, chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee,...
Ikenberry takes stock of America’s ‘Security Trap’
G. John Ikenberry has a post up at TPMCafe on what he terms the "security trap". The piece argues that a number of major changes (American Unipolarity, a 'revolution' in the concept of state sovereignty, lack of common threat as in the Cold War, and the rise of a more democratic international...
External Enrichment Part Deux?
The BBC (via FP Passport, my new favorite 'msm' blog) is reporting that Iran and Russia may have yet again reached a deal to shift the enrichment of Iranian uranium to Russia.Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told Iranian radio he had struck...
Lack of Vision
Yesterday, Kevin Drum had an interesting piece on the failure of the Bush administration to take Iran up on an offer to talk about its weapons program and support for anti-Israeli terrorists shortly after the President declared the end of 'major hostilities' in Iraq. The story goes that Tehran...
Do as I say, and, apparently, as I do
After having previously vowed to speak candidly with Chinese President Hu Jintao about affording more political and social freedom to Chinese citizens, President Bush managed to miss a golden opportunity and let diplomatic nicety get in the way.Most should by now be aware of the vocal protester...
“What Hu Talking About Mr. President?”
Chinese President Hu Jintao is in town to meet with our own commander-in-chief and while I am sure most people are focusing on the more visible issues of trade, currency valuation, and nuclear proliferation I like to look at the apparently insignificant, yet likely-to-cause-diplomatic-hay types of...