The twentieth Duck of Minerva podcast features Phil Schrodt of Pennsylvania State University. The interview includes Professor Schrodt's views on a number of interesting topics, including the history of quantitative and computational conflict studies, his "seven deadly sins" project, advice for graduate students in political science, and an explanation of his decision to take up blogging. This is the third podcast to...
Ouch. This hurts. Satire by Alan Dove (via): In a groundbreaking new study, scientists at Some University have discovered that a single molecule may drive people to perform that complex behavior we’ve all observed. Though other researchers consider the results of the small, poorly structured experiment misleading, a well-written press release ensures that their criticisms will be restricted to brief quotes buried near the bottoms of most news...
Given the news that Pope Benedict XVI will resign at the end of this month, the first bishop of Rome to do so since the middle of the last millennium, the college of cardinals will soon convene to elect his successor. Political scientists Forrest Maltzman, Melissa Schwartzberg, and Lee Sigelman researched how Pope John Paul II changed the papal constitution to force an outcome. As they wrote after Benedict's selection in 2005, Officially,...
Good Morning, here's your linkages... Let's start the week in South Asia: Afghanistan General Allen, the 15th of 16 commanders of ISAF in a dozen years, is delusional if he really thinks ISAF is on the road to victory in Afghanistan as he exits to become the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Unless of course, by the word "victory" he just means handing the ball off to the Afghans while the insurgency continues and the country crumbles....
Slow weekend at the Duck, eh? Some of our bloggers are snowed in. Not sure how to explain the rest of us. I've been playing lots of FTL and working on a manuscript review. And the kid's been sick. So here's some stuff resembling content: More trade networks from Thomas Oatley. Did Steve Walt rename "offshore balancing" "a more distant and hands-off strategy?" Hard to tell. But it doesn't seem like a step forward in the science of branding....
Winter Storm Nemo is bearing down on us and everything is shut down up here in the Northeast. No classes and no office hours! Here's the quick snow edition: Why are we now naming winter storms? Canadians dissing on Toronto. Moscow has received its heaviest snow in a century. With pictures. I used to do this on really cold snow days growing up in North Dakota -- blow soap bubbles and watch them freeze and shatter. (There really was nothing...
Some years back I participated in a series of workshops that culminated in a book on New Systems Theories of World Politics (value priced at $115). PM and I have been working, somewhat haphazardly, on a review essay dealing with contemporary imperial formations that deals with what I've called the "New Hierarchy Studies." There's also a draft blog post hiding somewhere or other on that subject. But I think that renewed interest in hierarchy...
John Quiggin at Crooked Timber
Here are some recent interesting posts and articles focused on 52% of the population: Want a fun and informative procrastination tool? Check out the NYT interactive tool exploring the gender gap in science across the globe. Sarah Rainey of the National Times in Australia wrote an impassioned and provocative piece on childless women- she declares them "the final taboo for women." Darlene Iskra, for Times, asks if women in combat is "really that...
As the military grapples with how to implement the reversal of the decades old ban on women in “combat” specialties, one of the data points that many people are using (especially in and around the Marine Corps) is the performance of the only two female Lieutenants to have attempted to complete the Infantry Officer’s Course at Quantico. The first dropped out on one of the first days of training during the grueling Combat Endurance Test; so did...
Most of you have probably noticed I've been on something like an indefinite hiatus for the past few months. This is not permanent, but it will likely continue for at least large parts of this semester as I help my daughter through some health issues. In the meantime, it is customary when a permanent contributor is on an extended hiatus to recruit a replacement, and since Amanda and Betcy are more than covering the human rights/NGO/humanitarian...
Jordan Ellenberg finds Razib Khan's rant against Jared Diamond's detractors off target. Look, I don't for a minute think that a good deal of the objection to Diamond is anything other than political, but some of it is clearly a controversy of facts and of scientific interpretation. And these both obviously have political implications. I'm also a bit tied of the way Khan has for years played his "who, me? I'm just practicing science" shtik --...