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Fear of Relativism part two: the appearance of contradiction

by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 6 Jul 2012 |

[The following essay, to be posted here in three parts over several days, was solicited by and is cross-posted at e-ir. Part one appeared here. Thanks to Aaron McKeil for editorial input and html formatting assistance.] II. The Appearance of ContradictionFrom this brief example we can draw a few lessons. 1)                     When confronted by two apparently contradictory statements, first try to ascertain whether the statements are in fact...

Fear of Relativism part one: from a certain point of view

by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 3 Jul 2012 |

[The following essay, to be posted here in three parts over the next several days, was solicited by and is cross-posted at e-ir. Thanks to Aaron McKeil for editorial input and html formatting assistance.]The dominant methodological position in the field of IR—neopositivism[1]—has almost certainly attained its dominance as a result of sociological factors, particularly the role that its emphasis on covering-law explanations and the practical...

Area Political Scientist Armed Only with Words Thwarts Robbery

by Brian Rathbun | 2 Jul 2012 |

THE CANARD"All the fake news that's fit to print."--South BostonPhotograph by Matt GratiasArea political scientist Joseph Nye of Harvard University emerged Sunday as a hero, thwarting an attempted robbery at a local convenience store. Suspected robber Donnie McFlanagan was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the quickie-mart clerk, demanding him to empty its contents. Taking his own life into his hands, Nye intervened according to multiple witness...

More Evidence for the Underlying Theory of the “Reset”

by Dan Nexon | 2 Jul 2012 |

The basic theory behind the Obama Administration's "Reset" policy was that US-Russian relations could be disaggregated: that it is possible for two countries to disagree on a range of issues and still cooperate on matters of common interest. That bet looks to be correct; despite a significant deterioration in relations between Washington and Moscow, the pursuit of common interests persists. The Russian government has given approval for the...

A Derecho Note

by Dan Nexon | 1 Jul 2012 |

Blogging might be sporadic for some of the Duck of Minerva team. Here's why:The WTOP slideshow is worth a look, as is its explanation of the particular weather phenomenon involved.We have a generator, but it doesn't run our air conditioning. Oh, well.At least we have it better than the poor folks in Colorado, not to mention an innumerable number of places outside of the developed world.

Speaking of Retrenchment

by Dan Nexon | 30 Jun 2012 |

Christopher Preble has a solid critical review of Robert Kagan's new book at The National Interest. Preble is particularly concerned with the free-rider problem:EVEN THOSE inclined to believe Kagan’s assessment of the international system and America’s role in it must contend with one central fact that Kagan elides: the costs of maintaining the status quo are substantial and likely to grow. That is because Washington’s possession of vast stores...

Russia and Syria

by Dan Nexon | 28 Jun 2012 |

Dan Drezner asks "Dear realists: please explain Russia":I raise all of this because a few days ago Charles Clover in the Financial Times wrote an interesting story about Russia's foreign policy in Syria:A respected Moscow-based military think tank has published a report that is likely to fuel more questions about the wisdom of Russia’s uncompromising support for the Syrian regime. It concludes that Russia really has few – if any – fundamental...

Retrenchment and the US Alliance System

by Dan Nexon | 28 Jun 2012 |

Robert drove a great deal of traffic to the Duck with his provocative posts on retrenchment and US alliances. His efforts to "grade" allies by strategic importance has led to some interesting results and fascinating discussions. But I think he's working with an overly narrow view of what alliances are good for. Here I agree with Steve Walt in general, although I have a somewhat different spin. Robert's analysis treats alliances as if they are...

Academic IR and the Information Age: Journals

by Dan Nexon | 27 Jun 2012 |

As my post on "open access" demonstrates, I've been thinking a lot about International Relations  journals over the last few months, particularly with respect to digital media. Charli's excellent presentation on the discipline and "web 2.0" fell at an interesting time for me, as I was working on a journal bid. My sense is that academic International Relations journals have a mixed record when it comes to fulfilling their varied functions in the...