by Charli Carpenter | 26 Jan 2012 | Featured
LA Times' latest article on drones raises the spectre of "robot weapons" in relations to the X-47B, Northrup Grumman's new drone prototype with the ability to fly solo - part of an ongoing force restructuring as the US military cuts back significantly on human personnel. While one might well ask whether a robotic plane (i.e. one that can fly autonomously) constitutes a robotic weapon if a human is in the loop for any targeting decisions, what's...
by Patrick Porter | 25 Jan 2012 | Featured
Before I launch in, I just wanted to say quickly to Dan Nexon and all the folk at the Duck, thanks for letting me stay on board! I normally lose respect for institutions that decide to keep me as a member, but this is one exception.Its a little late in coming, but I wanted to post some thoughts on Peter Beinart's thoughtful recent description of President Obama's evolving approach to US grand strategy as 'offshore balancing.'Stephen Walt has...
by Charli Carpenter | 25 Jan 2012 | Featured
At ThinkProgress Alyssa Rosenberg shares a lovely new short film about robots and prejudice:No Robots from YungHan Chang on Vimeo.Rosenberg draws a distinction between the representations of robots in this film and the scarier representations in much popular culture:Often, when we see robots in popular culture, they’re actually more powerful than we are. If the Cylons were a metaphor for, say, Irish immigrants to the United States, they’d be...
by Charli Carpenter | 24 Jan 2012 | Featured
Peter Singer has an op-ed in the Times which carefully makes the case against drones by carefully putting forth the proposition that their use undermines democracy: What troubles me, though, is how a new technology is short-circuiting the decision-making process for what used to be the most important choice a democracy could make... We must now accept that technologies that remove humans from the battlefield, from unmanned systems like the...
by Alana Tiemessen | 24 Jan 2012 | Featured
Antony Njuguna / NairobiThe big news out of the ICC today was the confirmation of charges against four of the "Ocampo Six" Kenyan elites accused of orchestrating and inciting the country's post-election violence in 2007-2008. Ruto, Arap Sang, Muthaura and Kenyatta had their charges confirmed and are expected to appeal; charges against Kosgey and Ali were dismissed by the Court's judges because of a lack of evidence.The decision comes four years...
by Kate Weaver | 24 Jan 2012 | Featured
Has the worm finally turned? Reuters today featured a story on the emerging market economies' push-back against the status quo of Western-dominated global economic governance. The piece features an explicit demand (and overt exercise of financial leverage) for a power shift in the predominant international financial institutions, specifically in the context of the IMF's recent request for an additional $600 billion in resources from its member...
by Cliff Bob | 23 Jan 2012 | Featured
Over the past few weeks we’ve had to endure military brass and top government officials falling over themselves to condemn American GIs – first for urinating on dead Afghans, and more recently for beating a sheep. Earlier in the Iraq and Afghan wars, we’ve suffered through pious denunciations of soldiers who tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib or laughed as they targeted “dead men” with drones.How noble the sentiment! Criticizing ordinary...
by Charli Carpenter | 23 Jan 2012 | Featured
I apologize to Duck readers for being such a slacker this past semester. Some things on the home/work front have had me tied down a bit, and the truth is I won't be fully back in the saddle until after this manuscript is done. But. In the words of George R. R. Martin, fire cannot kill a dragon, and my Chinese New Years' Resolution is to start posting again (at least semi-regularly) despite all. So what have I missed the chance to gripe about...
by Vikash Yadav | 23 Jan 2012 | Featured
Like many of my nerdy friends, I am eagerly awaiting the return of the second half of this season's "House MD." But let's be honest, the show basically substitutes a flow chart for a plot. No one with half a brain actually watches the show for the "medical mystery"; after all the show is premised on a suspension of disbelief. It's entertaining and a guilty pleasure because of the wit and antics of the ever gruff Hugh Laurie.But the show can be...
by Robert Kelly | 23 Jan 2012 | Featured
<img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('e6403e01-e0de-49ce-a231-02a0ef2f117a'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "";" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/--9rqXXXWaCY/TxzqyXkDwmI/AAAAAAAAACw/Nly5J93m9N8/videob4f2a8e66e2f%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" />If you haven’t seen this yet, it’s pretty hystericalI’d like to thank Duck contributors/editor, especially Vikash, for...
by Vikash Yadav | 23 Jan 2012 | Featured
We are pleased to announce roster changes at the Duck. Patrick Porter and Brian Rathbun have agreed to become permanent contributors. Quacktacular!And today we want to introduce a new guest blogger - Robert Kelly. Bob teaches IR at Pusan National University in Korea and writes a lot on East Asian IR now. He went to Ohio State; his areas are security and IO. He has own site, which we recommend: Asian Security Blog. His favorite work to date is...
by Dan Nexon | 22 Jan 2012 | Featured
Wow. South Carolina took a cane to the "Mormon Massachusetts Moderate" last night. This moves Nate Silver to write a longish post comparing the conventional wisdom (now embodied by my colleague, Hans Noel, and his co-authors) with the "This time it's different" crowd, in which Silver makes not a single, tiny, one-off mention of Citizens United. I'm not saying that it's certain that Newt's rich friends dumping millions of dollars through...