In early September, the circulation of the now iconic picture of Alan Kurdi, the little Syrian Kurdish boy who drowned along with his mother and brother in the attempt to cross the Aegean Sea, prompted me to write a post reflecting on what 'we' as academics might do. I argued that we could, possibly, use "our knowledge of global affairs to connect the dots and lay bare how Alan's story" is emblematic of so many themes we touch upon in our...
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The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of High Tech War
In fall of 2014, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced his plan to maintain US superiority against rising powers (i.e. Russia and China). His claim was that the US cannot lose its technological edge – and thus superiority – against a modernizing Russia and a rapidly militarizing China. To ensure this edge, he called for the “third Offset Strategy.” The previous two offset strategies were premised on Cold War rivalry and the...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Early But Sans Spoilers
We have not Friday Nerd Blogged in a while, and we are reluctant to do anything that might spoil the Force Awakens. Yet, my grading is done and my enthusiasm is making the Kessel Run in record time, so here's a non-spoilery bit of joy that is early and excessive. May the Force Be With You as you grade and travel over the holidays.
Duck, Duck, Nominate!
The Duckies have moved from here to the Online Media Caucus, but that does not mean that readers of the Duck should not participate. Indeed, it means that the DoM is now eligible for nominations. So, wander over to the OMC and nominate for a variety of categories, including best blog, best visual post, best podcast, best twitter account and more!
Men’s Unexpected Erections are a Liability on the Battlefield (and other ways men’s bodies put female soldiers at risk)
In the follow up to Defense Secretary Ash Carter's recent announcement that all combat jobs will be open to women, there have been several articles highlighting men's fears about working with women on the frontline. In particular, a survey of Special Operations men found that the majority would prefer not to work with women, and that some held serious "fears" and "concerns"- especially in relation to women's apparently unpredictable bodies....
The Practice Turn in International Relations Theory
Thanks to PTJ, ISQ Online is running a debate about the scope and nature of the 'practice turn' in the study of world politics. The symposium centers around a recent International Studies Quarterly article by Christian Bueger and Frank Gadinger, "The Play of International Practice."* From PTJ's introduction: The challenge, then, is to develop an adequate conceptual vocabulary for practice-sensiblity scholarship. Christian Bueger and Frank...
An Anti-Trump Call to Arms
Building on Josh's excellent post calling out Donald Trump as a vile racist, the popularity of Trump has been troubling me for some time. As a professor who takes seriously the job of educating students how to think as opposed to what to think, I strive in class not to be partisan or allow my students to know my personal political opinions, lest it affect what they believe or argue in an attempt to curry favor. I have been struggling for...
Thoughts on DA-RT
For background on DA-RT, see Jarod Hayes' post at the Duck of Minerva, as well as John Patty's response to the petition to delay implementation (as well as its related website) and Jeffrey Isaac's response to Patty and Isaac's latest post. Roundups and responses abound. I drafted a longer piece on DA-RT, but now realize that I will probably never finish it. So, instead, some brief comments: I have neither signed the DA-RT Journal Editors'...
Donald Trump Is a Racist (Part 100)
In the wake of the San Bernardino shooting and President Obama's address to the nation, Donald Trump has called for banning Muslims from entering the United States. This is counterproductive racist and awful. We need a credible candidate from the Republicans in 2016, not a reality television star who is a disgrace to the nation and its founding principles. Let's leave aside the morality here, which on its face is terrible, but recall what ISIS...
Climate Change and Rhetorical Entrapment
Late last month the New York Times ran an interesting piece about the power of language and climate change. Central to the story is the concept of a carbon budget. On its face, the concept is simple. Drawing on complex models of the atmospheric and energy effects of carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases, climate scientists have proposed a global carbon budget: the amount of carbon dioxide (or, we should add, the equivalent in other gases...
Beyond “Rejection”
The following is a guest post by Jeffrey C. Isaac, who is James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and editor in chief of Perspectives on Politics: A Political Science Public Sphere. “I reject this paper.” “I recommend that this paper be rejected.” “I am sorry to inform you that your paper has been rejected for publication.” Social practices are constituted in large part by the words we regularly use and the meanings...
Duckies Keep Quacking But In A Different Nest: Nominate
The new ISA caucus, the Online Media Caucus, has taken over the Duckies, and it is now nomination season (much safer than Duck Season). So, head over to the new OMC blog and nominate your favorite blogs, posts, tweets, and other online media for the next round of the Duckies, to be awarded in Atlanta in March at the next ISA meeting. As always, the Duckies will be sponsored by SAGE. The big difference for Duck of Minerva fans is that now...