Does Whataboutism work? A new article has answers.
6+1 Questions about “The Diplomacy of Whataboutism”
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Recent Posts
Is the World Cup a soft power win for Qatar? It’s too early to tell
Millions of people around the world are watching breathlessly as teams compete in the World Cup, held in Qatar. Many others--like me--tune it out, turned off by that guy in grad school who spent a...
A Message from the Executive Editor of International Security
I write to you as the new executive editor of International Security, the first woman to hold this position. I am taking the opportunity graciously provided by the Duck of Minerva team to introduce...
Say “cheese”!
The Bidens are serving the Macrons US-made wine and cheese. A cute gesture or a clumsy diplomatic move?
More Recent Posts
What Game of Thrones Got Wrong About Firebombing
Much ink has been spilled since last Sunday about the massacre at King’s Landing. Why did Dany carpet-bomb a civilian population after a city had surrendered? Was this a sign of her growing madness? Or a rational strategy to cement the legitimacy of her claim? Why didn’t the showrunners build it...
Appetite for Self Destruction, or three suicides and a funeral*
Here’s my argument: Late 80s/early 90s Soviet Union. The United Kingdom in 2016. The United States 2016 to now. Three contemporary examples of international suicide that conventional IR neither predicted nor can account. Ok, so perhaps suicide is too hyperbolic a concept and we should go with...
Plato and teaching Foreign Policy
I assigned Plato’s Theaetetus this semester in my foreign policy class. It was the very first thing we read in a course that included more standard text’s like Walter Russel Mead’s Special Providence, Tom Schelling’s Arms and Influence, and selections from Andrew Bacevich’s edited volume of...
A Holiday “With Tears in Your Eyes”
One thing that Trump hasn't done today yet (which he should have if he wants to stay in Putin's good graces) was to congratulate Russians with Victory day. It's an incredibly important holiday in contemporary Russia and its commemoration dynamic can help understand a large chunk of Russian foreign...
Need some evidence of America’s waning influence?
One of the (many) concerns about the Trump Administration's foreign policy is the impact it will have on US influence around the world. Will Trump's rhetoric and actions restore US dominance in the international system, or will they aggravate the world, leading them to look elsewhere for...
Ukraine’s New PreZE!dent
"Servant of the People" The history of the Next President Cue in the Twitter hot-takes in which Ukrainians elected themselves “a TV show star” with “no political experience”. Relax, not all TV stars are racist ignoramuses who want wall and try to spoon state flags. Despite winning the elections...
Understanding Israel
This is a guest post from Brent Sasley, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. He tweets at @besasley. Israel holds a prominent place in the American popular imagination. It’s a major source of news reports, as well as an increasingly partisan issue in American electoral...
Game of Thrones and Alliance Politics
I saw this tweet and could not help but respond: I enjoyed @mchorowitz on GoT Dragon airpower, but it’s time for @RyanGrauer to give the people what they want- an analysis of how Westerosi alliance politics will affect military command structure and battlefield effectiveness. — Jon Askonas...
Clarifying Classic Confusions for IR students
An amazing series of tweets must be re-posted here so that IR profs everywhere can use them for syllabi and for the first day of class. A grateful nation owes Herb Carmen, former naval aviator, a tremendous debt. Casual vs. Causal pic.twitter.com/3N2ftzChkf — Herbal (@HerbCarmen) April 5,...
Editors, we need to talk about robustness checks
It's happened to all of us (or least those of us who do quantitative work). You get back a manuscript from a journal and it's an R&R. Your excitement quickly fades when you start reading the comments. One reviewer gives a grocery list of additional tests they'd like to see: alternate control...
Winners of the 2019 Duckies!
This is a guest post from William Kindred Winecoff, Incoming Chairand Brent E. Sasley, Outgoing Chair of the Online Media Caucus The Online Media Caucus’s 2019 Duckies have come and gone. The reception celebrating Online Achievement in International Studies, generously sponsored by SAGE...
Climate Change as Anarchy: The Need for A New Structural Theory of IR
I arrived in Toronto for ISA on Thursday and went straight to the annual luncheon hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, which featured some of my favorite policy oriented scholars, Kori Schake, Dan Drezner, Charles Kupchan, and Barry Posen. It was a lively discussion about the rise of...