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...
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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.
Monday Morning Linkage
Good morning, Duckaroos! Here's your Monday linkage from... "Dixie": The South will rise again - according to the UN. No, not that South, the Global South. For the first time in two centuries, Brazil, India, and China's combined GDP is nearly equivalent to the combined GDP of the leading powers of North America and Europe. What lessons can the US learn? Himadeep Muppidi's "Reflections on Narrative Voice" in IR is a smart, "must read"...
ISA Survival Guide for Grad Students: the essential clothing, food, shelter, and networking dos and don’ts
It is time again for the International Studies Association Annual Conference. With thousands of attendees, a phone book full of panels, and a slough of receptions, dinners, meetings, and opportunities, the whole thing can be a bit overwhelming as a grad student (and for everyone else too!). You've likely received advice on how to present your work in 10 seconds or less- but what about the rest of the conference? Here are a couple of key tips...