by Dan Nexon | 2 Jul 2012 | Featured
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...
by Dan Nexon | 1 Jul 2012 | Featured
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.
by Dan Nexon | 30 Jun 2012 | Featured
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...
by Charli Carpenter | 29 Jun 2012 | Featured
H/T Steve.
by Dan Nexon | 28 Jun 2012 | Featured
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...
by Dan Nexon | 28 Jun 2012 | Featured
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...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Jun 2012 | Featured
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...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Jun 2012 | Featured
From https://www.zazzle.com/This is the last in a series of guest posts by Stuart J. Kaufman of the University of Delaware. Stuart advances a long-running dispute with PTJ about whether "what goes on inside people's heads" is relevant to social constructionism. PTJ doesn't think so; Stuart disagrees. The first post can be found here, the second here. You may also download a complete PDF.None of this is intended to deny the importance of...
by Dan Nexon | 26 Jun 2012 | Featured
Taipei 101Photo Credit: Dan NexonI spent 2-9 June in Taiwan on a trip sponsored by the government of the Republic of China. Taipei funds these trips, and others like them, as part of an effort to influence academics and opinion-leaders; while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(MOFA) would certainly be pleased if its outreach resulted in more voices advocating on behalf of ROC interests, it would, I think, be satisfied if we simply paid more...
by Robert Kelly | 26 Jun 2012 | Featured
<img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('310e98ce-49cb-4b0f-b5c7-8ea02326bd47'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "";" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/-0FUOBjhtgfg/T9XkvHerJlI/AAAAAAAAANo/b2TAgN7QGjo/video3ce1177ddb82%25255B20%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" />Xenophobia so sloppy and racist, Glenn Beck himself would blush…This recently ran on Korea’s largest broadcaster in...
by Dan Nexon | 26 Jun 2012 | Featured
This is the second in a series of guest posts by Stuart J. Kaufman of the University of Delaware. Stuart advances a long-running dispute with PTJ about whether "what goes on inside people's heads" is relevant to social constructionism. PTJ doesn't think so; Stuart disagrees. The first post can be found here. After the final post, we will make the entire piece available as a PDF -- consider it our first true "working paper" publication.Since...
by Dan Nexon | 26 Jun 2012 | Featured
Note: signatures are only valid for those who are members of International Studies Association at the time of review. Please do not sign if you are not, or will not, be an ISA member.Below is a letter requesting support for a new section of the ISA on "Historical International Relations." The section would be cognate to BISA's Historical Sociology working group and APSA's International History and Politics section. The idea came out of...