by Megan MacKenzie | 31 Jan 2013 | Featured
Given the growing debate surrounding "Zero Dark Thirty", it is now mandatory to have a strong opinion on the movie. In addition to the excellent posts on this blog, including "Zero Dark Thirty" Debate Needs and Interrogation and "Zero Dark Thirty": Touchstone Par Exemplar by Jeffrey Stacey the internet is awash with excellent commentary on the movie. Why does it matter? The vast divide between those who love it and those who hate it tells us...
by Dan Nexon | 31 Jan 2013 | Featured
Political scientists often say that 'no one reads books anymore.' I'd add that 'almost no one reads book reviews.' This is a shame. Although most book reviews are paint-by-numbers affairs, some smuggle in provocative claims or important statements about aspects of the field.* For example, in his Perspectives on Politics review of Miles Kahler, ed. Networked Politics: Agency, Power, and Governance, Zeev Maoz nails an important problem with one...
by Dan Nexon | 31 Jan 2013 | Featured
This is a guest post by Dorit Geva. Geva is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Central European University, and has written a book on conscription politics in France and the United States. Megan H. Mackenzie wrote an earlier post on this topic. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that some 230,000 combat jobs might open for American servicewomen in the armed forces is a watershed moment for the American military. But the...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Jan 2013 | Featured
A little over four years ago the U.S. Department of Defense issued its first Minerva grants. These often substantial awards have produced a significant number of publications by some of the "best and brightest" (including long-term Duck of Minerva guest blogger Josh Busby) in the field and, whether directly or indirectly, shaped the nature of (at least) contemporary security studies. But it seems to me that we haven't had anything resembling a...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Jan 2013 | Featured
Tomorrow is the last day to cast your vote for the finalists in each OAIS Blogging Award category. I am pleasantly surprised by the response rate. Far more people have casts ballots than we anticipated when we rashly decided to start this thing. Please do note that voter registration is closed. We are not accepting new requests for ballots. That's all, folks.
by Dan Nexon | 30 Jan 2013 | Featured
> Anyone have good recommendations for following developments in Iraq? Yeah, remember Iraq? I hear things aren't exactly ice-cream and puppies there. Dan Brumberg and Steve Heydemann have a new Wilson Center report: "Global Authoritarians and the Arab Spring: New Challenges for U.S. Diplomacy." The Russian MOD looks to return to defense-industry autarky. I wonder if there are any implications for the claim that the globalization of defense...
by PM | 29 Jan 2013 | Featured
Let's get to the news and the comments: Tim Burke talks about the real intersection of science fiction, the great convergence, and international governance [Easily Distracted] Surowiecki talks Boeing and outsourcing [The New Yorker] Have Malian rebels destroyed ancient texts? [The New Yorker] Maybe intercepting a Taepo-dong is illegal [The Diplomat] I like reading about Mongolia and I don't think I have to justify it [The Diplomat] And also:...
by Adrienne LeBas | 29 Jan 2013 | Featured
In case folks have missed it, there is an upcoming deadline (FRIDAY!) for the 2013 ECPR General Conference in Bordeaux, September 4-7th. Unlike many other conferences, EPCR paper proposals are submitted to already-organized panels. This often results in more cohesive panels and, one hopes, more helpful feedback. Paper proposals are due this coming Friday and can be submitted through the various organized sections listed here. ... And the...
by Dan Nexon | 29 Jan 2013 | Featured
This is a guest post by Brandon Valeriano and Ryan Maness. Cyberwar is a pressing international security problem. The news media breathlessly covers any potential attack before the facts are in. Policy briefs and reports are produced on all levels of government and private industry. It would then behoove us to take a step back and examine opinions about the cyber security threat according to perceptions among policymakers, academics, and cyber...
by Josh Busby | 29 Jan 2013 | Featured
Last May, Jon Monten, Will Inboden and I published on Foreignaffairs.com the results of a survey of about 40 U.S. foreign policy professionals, split equally among Republicans and Democrats with nearly all of them having served in some capacity in the Executive Branch. As I discussed here on the Duck, we found some surprising sources of strength for bipartisan support for certain aspects of international cooperation, namely for Bretton Woods...
by Amanda Murdie | 28 Jan 2013 | Featured
It’s a question faced by scientists daily: if you found that X wasn't associated with Y, would you report it? What if you found that treatment X was harmful to Y, would you report your findings? For example, let’s say you are an oncologist and you just concluded, based on years of research, that smoking wasn’t associated with cancer – would you report your findings? What if you were employed by the cancer drug’s maker or dealing with cancer...
by Dan Nexon | 28 Jan 2013 | Featured
This is a guest post by Brent Sasley. Sasley is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington. He blogs at Mideast Matrix and Open Zion. Follow him on Twitter. The Israeli election results are far messier than anyone had hoped, leading to furious debates about who got what right about the Israeli electorate. This seems to be especially true among Western analysts and media that aren’t close...