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...
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...
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...
Much discussion lately about how much rejection is in this academic game. I had a conversation yesterday with a pal who was finding it much harder, it seemed, to get work published after tenure than before. "I thought I knew how to do this." Folks have been calling for the true CVs of people--where rejections would be listed. Not sure that is going to happen. However, in this week where I received news of receiving a fellowship to supplement...
Photo Credit: ruimc77 on Flickr In response to the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people President Obama stated: Once again, we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. This is an attack not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share. President Obama’s statement was a resounding call for...
[I've been debating whether to post this...it's a "transcript" of a talk I gave yesterday here at the University of Puget Sound. It's a bit basic as it was intended for a general audience of, primarily, undergraduate students. I wrote this up for friends who wanted to hear the talk but were unable to attend. It's a bit disorganized too. So be warned it's kind of ramble-y and general. Also, I haven't provided source information or links. If you...
So, I started yesterday with news that Republican governors, including my own here in Texas, were seeking to deny Syrian refugees in to the state. By the end of the day, more than 25 governors, including one Democrat, had joined in the hysteria. I think a lot of us see this as a betrayal of American values and completely idiotic from the perspective of grand strategy. We are basically telling millions of refugees, most of them Muslim, that we...
The Paris terror attacks have brought the issue to the fore in awful, dramatic fashion. It's inevitable that the topic will feature in tonight's Democratic debate and the wider campaign. With world leaders set to convene in Paris in a few weeks time for the global climate negotiations, French vulnerability to terrorism has taken on added significance. While ISIS does not pose an existential threat to the United States, attacks on civilians are...
The horrifying events in Paris tonight are almost beyond comprehension. While we don't know much more than the specific facts on the ground--coordinated attacks, suicide bombers at Le Stade de France, drive-by shootings at a Cambodian restaurant, the massacre at Bataclan, at least 150 are dead--I've been thinking all day about this still unfolding tragedy. It's still early and we don't know much about who is involved or why. As with the recent...
While last night's debate was focused on the domestic economy, there was a bit more discussion of foreign policy than in the previous debate (i.e. none). So let's see what the candidates had to see! Once again, I'll be working off of the Washington Post's transcript. I'll ignore the snarky back-and-forth about defense spending because there was no substantive content there, which means that the first real discussion of foreign policy concerned...
Following on my last point which tried to understand the logic of ISIS's role (if indeed it is responsible) in the bombing of a Russian charter plane int he Sinai, let's turn our attention to the confusion surrounding the recent activity in the South China Sea. In an (alleged...more on this later) effort to counter China's claims of expanded territorial waters and recent island building in the South China Sea, the US Navy sent the destroyer USS...
The following is a guest post by Michele Leiby & Matthew Krain of The College of Wooster. We are at a moment where there’s more media attention, research and advocacy on behalf of global human rights than ever before. Given our common interests and goals as members of an international human rights community, it’s surprising how infrequently and ineffectually we communicate and contribute directly to one another’s work. Our recent research...