by Betcy Jose | 18 Oct 2012 | Featured
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) recently determined that the situation in the entire country of Syria can be classified as a non-international armed conflict. While this may not have been news to many watching events unfold there, what makes this statement interesting is that this position differed from the position advanced in May 2012 by then ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger. At that time, Kellenberger claimed that...
by Dan Nexon | 18 Oct 2012 | Featured
Germany calls for the EU to transition to economic empire. John R. Deni makes the case for a US forward presence in Europe (via Paul MacDonald). Nick Bisley examines the meaning of "Indo-Pacific" for geopolitical order. Mark Leon Goldberg tells us what to watch for in the UN security council elections. Brendon Nyhan unfavorably contrasts local with national debate coverage. Noah Smith on the place of math in economics. No relevance for...
by Dan Nexon | 17 Oct 2012 | Featured
This may not be the worst (professional, major record label) video of all time, but it certainly makes a strong bid for the title. Do you have any suggestions for worse videos?
by Dan Nexon | 17 Oct 2012 | Featured
There's some rambling analysis after the linkage. Charles King is very skeptical of the Scottish independence referendum. William Nomikos argues that Israeli politics may be moderating. Lisa Lundquist on the most recent insider attack in Afghanistan. Via Victoria Hui, An H-Diplo/ISFF roundtable on Wang Yuan-kang's Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics (Columbia University Press, 2011). Via Anjali Dayal, a "Moral and...
by PM | 17 Oct 2012 | Featured
Among the many interesting things about graduate school is its propensity to spark greater drinking than I ever thought possible. After preparing (most of) a three-hour talk on using R, I definitely found that celebrating America's greatest brewer-turned-patriot was useful. (For the benefit of readers who are serious snobs, my favorite beers are much more hoppy and more indie than anything brewed by such a large producer.) I'm more interested,...
by Megan MacKenzie | 17 Oct 2012 | Featured
The Human Security Report Project (HSR) recently released their 2012 Report. The first chapter on wartime sexual violence makes sweeping conclusions and provocative claims about the nature and rates of sexual violence. The overarching message, and certainly the one picked up by the media is that wartime sexual violence is on the decline. Before taking a closer look at the 5 Myths about sexual violence that HSR seeks to dispel, it is important...
by Phil Arena | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
In 1963, JFK predicted that there would be as many 25 nuclear powers by the 1970s. Yet here we are, some 70 years later, and the number of states believed to possess nuclear weapons has grown from 4 to 9. Why haven't more states joined the club? A variety of factors are undoubtedly at work (see this piece by Gartzke and Joon for a good attempt at bring systematic evidence to bear on this question). In this post, I am going to discuss one in...
by Dan Nexon | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
Topics covered: Process arguments about Libyan attack; Obama likes to kill Islamic terrorists; Energy independence is good, because... jobs; and Romney wants to start a massive trade war with China, Obama just wants to keep it low-level. That's pretty much all, folks.
by Robert Kelly | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
Yes, it’s partisan, but it’s a somewhat useful deconstruction First, I included the above video to reference a point I tried to make earlier – that Romney flip-flopped so much in the first debate that I no longer have any idea what he thinks about the big issues of campaign. I just wish I knew wth Romney wants to do with the presidency. There has to be some purpose, some reason to vote for him, and I can’t find it. Someone tell me in a few...
by Dan Nexon | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
A few weeks ago we saw a nasty eruption of the should "progressives vote for Obama" debate--prompted, ironically enough, by a libertarian columnist. My reaction at the time was rather short. But I feel moved by Russel Arben Fox's explanation of why he's voting Green, albeit in Kansas, and the ensuing discussion at LGM, to say a bit more. Note that I'll focus on the left-wing variant, but my comments apply equally to the right side of the...
by Dan Nexon | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
tl;dr notice: 1200 words. Zack Beauchamp points us to Douglas Feith's latest broadside against the administration with the tweet: LOL Feith cites @slaughteram and Sam Power's jobs as evidence that Obama wanted to limit American use of military force It turns out that the absurdity runs far deeper in Feith's piece. I know that Obama's fecklessness in the face of the Russian threat is an article of faith among neo-conservatives. As I've mentioned...
by Robert Kelly | 16 Oct 2012 | Featured
George W Bush practically built his re-election effort against John Kerry on the idea that even if you disagreed with him, you consistently knew where he stood on stuff. That commercial above is famous. And the US right in general loves that sort of macho grandstanding on behalf of American will in the face of wimpy, carping detractors - usually Europeans, academics, and liberals, ideally combined. Remember ‘freedom fries’? Palin and McCain...