I have enjoyed the recent exchange between Kroenig and Sechser & Fuhrmann (see here, here, and here). One interesting point that came up regards the role of conventional military capabilities in determining crisis outcomes. Kroenig says that the MCT data S&F analyze must be flawed because their results indicate that conventional military capabilities don't matter whereas we have good reason to believe that the strong do what they will...
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Debating the Benefits of Nuclear Superiority, Part III
Nuclear weapons may be useful for deterrence, but can they also coerce? Our theories reach opposite conclusions: we say no; Kroenig says yes. Both sides marshal evidence to support their arguments. So who is right? Our goal in this post is to evaluate Kroenig’s empirical results and respond to his critique of our article.
Amooc Time
About a month ago I wrote that: The recent obsession with MOOCs has its roots in three interlocking trends: the application of business-school speak to higher education, technology fetishism, and the quest to push down labor costs. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that these are three faces of late-modern capitalism: the colonization of all modes of life by scripts associated with capitalist exchange relations, the “virtuous...
Thursday Morning Linkage
Here is your Thursday Morning Linkage with some categories for helpful reading... Global Economy Cyprus and EU avert financial catastrophe but EU looks like "gang that can't shoot straight" Krugman recommends Cyprus exit from the Euro Energy and the Environment Wildlife returns to Guyana CFR hosts joint event with Conservation International on the mainstreaming of environmental security Trevor Houser flags EIA report on U.S. energy consumption...
Midweek Linkage
Dan Trombly worries about the effectiveness of proxy warfare in Syria. Drone reconnaissance aids archeology. Chinese missile porn. US policy toward Bahrain. Did the US once save Hugo Chávez's life? Colin Dueck thinks that the US is strategically overextended. Andrew Yeo looks at the NRA and right-wing social movements. David Kaib riffs on the Portman gay-marriage conversion. So does David S. Meyer. And also: More possible downsides of MOOCs...
It’s Not About #PoliSci, It’s About the #NSF
One point that I'd like to see made a little bit more clearly is that political scientists should try to reframe this. I doubt that we have much sympathy among members of other disciplines; that quote about "first they came for the X" is troubling precisely because, well, nobody stands up for the Xs as Xs. Besides, academics don't have much sympathy for anyone outside of their discipline: would political scientists rally behind a struggling...
Tuesday Afternoon Linkage Club
A very restricted number of links today: Jennifer Victor lays out the strategy for an effective lobbying effort for political science. [The Mischiefs of Faction] Phil Schrodt delivers a sensible assessment of the state of play, including a warning about vitriol and a savage critique of the APSA. My thoughts are mixed: Vitriol is probably counterproductive, but some form of targeted shaming is probably justified---a vote against NSF independence...
Shakespeare, Cyprus, and the End of the Euro Crisis
Much ado. Investors keep getting burned in betting on the exit of members of the Eurozone, let alone the breakup of the currency/monetary union of the EU. And econ/business experts keep getting their predictions wrong. The simple reason: the EU, from its econ/financial area to the vast array of its other policy areas, at heart is a political project. Events continue to show that despite the painful strains of major economic duress, this...
The US-Iraq Conflict: A War of Rivalry?
This is a guest post by Konstantinos Travlos of the University of Illinois and Brandon Valeriano of the University of Glasgow. The mark of the ten year anniversary of the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 has been, as such anniversaries tend to be, a chance for scholars, pundits and politicians to take stock of the past and evaluate the present. Reactions have ranged from a stubborn support of the war to quasi-celebrations on the...
Debating the Benefits of Nuclear Superiority for Crisis Bargaining, Part II
Todd Sechser and Matthew Fuhrmann argue that possessing nuclear weapons confers few benefits for coercive diplomacy.
Debating the Benefits Nuclear Superiority for Crisis Bargaining, Part I
Matt Kroenig argues that states should strive for nuclear superiority as it confers strategic advantages.
Foreign Entanglements: Iraq Anniversary Edition
Catch my prescient NCAA prediction at the beginning.