Middle East scholars recently released the results of the new Middle East Scholar Barometer. What does it tell us about Middle East Studies itself? Does it suggest the field is rich and progressing, or in need of an intellectual shakeup?
This is a guest post by Idean Salehyan. Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas at Dallas “Why did you become an academic?” is a question that I’m frequently asked. For me, my...
This is part IV in a series on bridging the gap between policy and academia. In part I, I wrote about principles of engagement. In part II, I wrote about short-form writing and in part III long-form...
Do you think this person is white? If you are from Europe or North America, you might have said yes. If you are from Russia, you might have described this person as black. Most IR peeps are familiar...
From the AP:Some who don't approve of Bush's job performance admire him personally."I think he tries to be likable and I think he's somewhat honest," said Cindy Bashura, a Democratic-leaning resident of Seymour, Conn. "He tries to do what he thinks is right, but sometimes I think he takes the...
Dan Drezner posts on one of the best science-fiction series that was ever cancelled before its time... and the upcoming movie. Firefly, for those of you who don't know, was a Joss Whedon series in which he took the western influences in space opera (Roddenberry described Star Trek, after all, as...
Cross-posted on my blog.The point of Dafna Linzer's front page story in Tuesday's Washington Post (August 2) is clear from the headline: "Iran Is Judged 10 Years From Nuclear Bomb." A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key...
Some thoughts on Chirol's "History of Empires II". I'll state my basic concern up front: Chirol's "second-generation empires" sound pretty much like what international-relations (and other) scholars call "hegemonic systems." There are a number of good overviews of hegemonic-stability theory...
From my inbox:Once I get that PhD, I'll finally be rich!Oh, wait. Never mind.Filed as: spam
I'm sure Chirol has no idea what he's done, but he waved an enormous red flag in front of my face by posting "A History of Empires." Sadly, I can't really respond (yet). I'm two weeks away from moving to Ohio for the 2005-2006 academic year, I owe a coauthor a redraft of a piece on hierarchy in...
John Ikenberry has more to say about the differences between neoconservativism and liberal internationalism. John follows up on a post by Michael Lind, the upshot of which is that Wilson, FDR, and Truman were not big on democratic enlargement as a guiding principle of American grand strategy.Lind...
From: XXXXXXXXSubject: You computer are INFECTED.Date: July 30, 2005 4:08:26 PM EDTTo: XXXXXXXXIt isn't up there with "All your bases are belong to us,", but I thought it was amusing.Filed as: spam
Jack Weisberg thinks so. So do I. But remember, "electable" is different than "will actually win." David Adesnik is unpersuaded, but I think he confuses the two questions.With regard to Point A, Weisberg says thatSen. Clinton's political positioning couldn't be better for 2008. Despite being a...
At Charles Krauthammer. Remind me never to make John mad.Charles Krauthammer is well known as the chief polemicist of the neo-conservative movement and op-ed guru of American unilateralism – and he has just outdone himself in writing the most thoroughly risible piece of foreign policy commentary...
The always smart, always acerbic folks at Coming Anarchy have been getting their chortles by photoshopping Theodor Seuss Geisel's (aka Dr. Seuss) political cartoons from the 1940s. Dr. Seuss was a strong anti-fascist. Many of his cartoons are stinging criticisms of American isolationalists and...
Cross posted on my blog. On July 26, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker reported in the New York Times that the US is no longer fighting a global "war on terror" (GWOT): The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the...