Manta rays and sharks get new protections, CITES closes on a hopeful note Yet new slaughter of elephants in Chad Black market for sea cucumbers in Mexico, driven by demand in China Oh yeah, Senate passes measures restricting NSF funding for study of democracy (cuz that's not important), NSF can only fund study of issues germane to national security so we're okay (just kidding) Will Obama use Nixon-era NEPA to fight climate change and/or is he...
I've realized that it is mathematically impossible to finish what I need to get done before ISA. So this will be brief. Some of this morning's world-politics headlines: deposit levy fails in Cyprus, leading to emergency talks; ROK banking and television computer networks hit by "virus"; and Al Qaeda in Africa claims to have beheaded a French hostage. Joe Cirincione rips into the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. And more on the Phase 4...
The Globe and Mail investigates why Japan is falling in love with robots (by the way, I know we're supposed to love longform journalism now because it's long, but you can read either half of this piece and you won't miss the other half) [The Globe and Mail] U.S. Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols argues the U.S. should adopt a minimal deterrent---albeit in a piece that mentions "China" only once and "extended deterrence" never. [The...
My first thoughts on the war’s ten year anniversary are here. There I asked if there was any defensible theory behind the war, anything that might explain why we launched it, because weapons of mass destruction were not really the reason. Paul Wolfowitz notoriously admitted they were just a pretext to rally the country behind the invasion. And it’s hard to argue it was about pre-emption either; Iraq was hardly a looming military threat in 2003....
For students of international affairs and security, especially from either side of the Atlantic, its that time of year again when we congregate at the ISA Conference to muse on the globalisation of everything in a borderless world...after enduring an increasingly unpleasant border regime at the Airport. I'm not sure about our readers, but the general experience of Heathrow, JFK or LAX is not exactly border free. In the age of anxiety, about...
In the category of “pop-culture-not-talked-about-by-normal-Ducks,” People magazine’s cover story last week was on ABC’s The Bachelor, Sean Lowe, and his pledge to remain a virgin re-virgin until his wedding night. As someone who graduated high school in town of less than 1500 in Kansas, I think this type of pledge is pretty typical: many teens and young adults make a pledge, usually in front of an audience, to avoid sexual conduct until...
Good mornin' duck fans! Let's start the week by revisiting last week's firestorm in ... Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has become a bewildering enigma for many Americans as he launched yet another verbal tirade against the US last week. This time he recklessly accused the US of colluding with the Taliban. The NY Times speculates that Karzai is keen to shape his legacy given the ultimate fate of Mohammed Najibullah and many other Afghan leaders who...
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel de facto announced on Friday that the US will scrap deployment of ground-based ballistic-missile interceptors in Poland and Romania. At a Pentagon press conference today, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the planned deployment of the high-speed SM-3 Block IIB interceptor to Poland (and the corresponding 4th phase of European Phased Adaptive Approach) has been cancelled. The transcript of Hagel’s...
In the aftermath of a long war, a new degree of suspicion ensues between two powerful countries that were nominally on the same side…one rattles its sabre, threatening small countries on its borders…the other shores up relations with the very same countries… a tit-for-tat arms race begins, waged with the advantages of recent technological advances…espionage takes the form of a new battleground as the stakes move progressively higher…for the...
I often listen to the radio when following laundry, and today was no exception. Our local NPR affiliate was playing the TED Radio Hour. Remember when TED was kind of neat and exciting... before it revealed itself for what it is: a cliché-ridden academic variant of "business book summaries for executives"? Anyway, the program featured Andrew McAfee's TED talk, "Are Droids Taking Our Jobs." In the course of an otherwise lucid talk, McAfee...
Blogging is light this week because almost all of the crew are at the ISA Annual Convention. But... We will be announcing the winners of the 2013 Outstanding Achievement in International Studies (OAIS) Blogging Awards at the reception. Come one, come all. If you are registered to attend ISA, that is.
I am teh sick, so this will be short. Dan Trombly on the future of power in world politics. Bhartendu Kumar Singh on Sino-Indian defense talks. Somalia's achievements and challenges. Robert Farley looks at the future (or lack thereof) for aircraft carriers. Ned Lebow does Theory Talks. Check out Ned's mention of PTJ and Stefano Guzzini as part of a third great cohort of IR theorists! And also: Jay Ulfelder has "suggested readings for...