The way that APSA leaders handled the Claremont Institute situation was troubling… will APSA, as an organization, be committed to some broadly liberal democratic values?
This is the third in a series of posts about bridging the gap between policy and academia. The first focused on principles for engagement. The second on short-form writing, including blogging. Â ...
This is part II of a series on bridging the gap between policy and academia. In my last post, I laid out some principles for thinking policy engagement as an academic. In this post, I'll talk about...
Just returning from an invigorating #ISA2017 where I was inspired by colleagues and new ideas and processing all the stimulating interactions and conversations I had. Last night at the fabulous...
My colleague, Bob Lieber, has a new book out: The American Era: Power and Grand Strategy for the 21st Century.I haven't read nearly as much of it as I should; from what I have seen, it looks to be one of the best defenses of the doctrine of prevention and aggressive US leadership written so...
Sometimes pondering over this, I am in some degree inclined to their opinion. Nevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half, or perhaps a little less.I compare her to...
For more than 25 years, the State Department has been required to list all state sponsors of terrorism because such a designation precludes the US from providing foreign aid and exporting arms. Here's the latest list:Country and Designation DateCuba, March 1, 1982Iran, January 19, 1984Libya,...
I've been dusting off a long dormant paper on nomadic empires and international-relations theory. While doing so, I came across this discussion of one pathway of pre-modern Central Asian state formation.The centrifugal tendencies of the tribes and the nomad’s natural anarchical inclinations, could...
Walter Pincus, staff writer for the Washington Post, reports proposed changes in US nuclear doctrine.The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist...
The new issue of International Security has a long-awaited forum on the state of the "balance of power" after fifteen-some years of US hegemony and four+ years of the "Bush doctrine." The main focus seems to be soft balancing: what is it, is it happening, does it matter?I haven't read it yet, but...
Dan Drezner provides a link to - and discussion of- a new paper on the commercial peace. The paper, written by Columbia's Erik Gartzke, argues that:The transformation of commerce made possible by economic freedom also leads to a transformation in international affairs. Conquest becomes expensive...
I agree with Dan that it's a little silly to refer to a FEMA spokesman's comments about the commitment and loyalty of some firefighters as "fascist." Appalling, yes; fascist, no.However, the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in the case of Jose Padilla strikes me as a much...
Things I like about OSU:1) Checking books out of the library is like ordering from Amazon. I search a title, author, or somesuch. I select a book. I select "MY OFFICE" as my delivery option. The book shows up in my mailbox in a few days.2) Parking is cheap. The "A" parking pass is less than half...
Atrios on the latest "it just looks worse and worse" report:The fascist at FEMA:On Monday, the Tribune says, some firefighters began to take off their FEMA-issued T-shirts in protest. A FEMA spokesman responded by questioning the firefighters' willingness to help in a time of need. "I would go...
Amidst the continuing stories of tragedy and survival emanating from the Gulf Coast, this article in this morning's Washington Post caught my eye: Ursinus College, a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, has turned the higher education clock back by requiring all freshmen to take a required...
Dan Drezner writes a post I considered and rejected for the Duck.Today's Washington Post has a story entitled "Chernobyl's Harm Was Far Less Than Predicted, U.N. Report Says." Here's what Dan writes about it:Good news about ChernobylPeter Finn reports in the Washington Post that twenty years after...