by Steve Saideman | 2 Dec 2011 |
In the fifth book of the Game of Thrones series, it seems like every character at some point says: "Words are Wind." This means that a promise or threat is being made, but there may not be any credibility. Without getting sunk into an overly academic debate about the credibility of commitments, signaling and resolve, I just wanted to highlight a promise or two that might be "wind-worthy."Specifically, NATO, the US, the Danes, the Canadians,...
by Josh Busby | 2 Dec 2011 |
Three weeks ago, Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the National Institutes of Health suggesting that because of recent advances in scientific understanding we could finally envision an AIDS-free generation. Wow, fantastic, the beginning of the end! Could it be? A week ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria announced that because of insufficient donor funding, it was canceling its next funding round for new projects and that it would...
by Josh Busby | 30 Nov 2011 |
Durban SkylineWhy aren't you there? You love South Africa. New baby. 'Nuff said.What, there is more? Low expectations. Hard to justify traveling all that way (let alone burn all those hydrocarbons) for a meeting that is likely to be unproductive.*I take it you are not a big fan of big global conferences? Not really. Hard to see how thousands of delegates and NGOs can converge in a single place and actually produce meaningful results.Jealous...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
According to Politico:Senate Republicans are coalescing around a plan that would continue the current salary freeze for all federal workers and lawmakers to pay for an extension of the payroll tax cut favored by President Barack Obama and other Democrats...The GOP apparently calculates that they can shift the discussion from their defense of tax cuts for the most prosperous Americans by attacking Federal workers. Sadly, they're probably right....
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
Phil Arena does it very effectively.Personally, I don't see how the claim that the US is not in decline follows logically from the observation of changes in Australian policy, Japanese policy, and Burmese policy. What is the logic behind assuming that the US would be less likely to push for all the changes highlighted by Mead if the US was not in relative decline? Is it not at least plausible that states try harder to assemble counter-balancing...
by Rodger Payne | 30 Nov 2011 |
Born Newton Leroy McPherson, the man now simply known as "Newt Gingrich" has been surging in the latest opinion polls asking Republican voters to identify their preferred presidential candidate. He also recently won the endorsement of the Manchester Union Leader, which 538's Nate Silver finds to be important in the early New Hampshire primary:This analysis finds that The Union Leader’s endorsement has been highly statistically significant in...
by Vikash Yadav | 30 Nov 2011 | Featured
The term "Indo-Pacific" has been used since the mid-seventies, mainly to refer to a biological ecosystem. In the last few years, however, "Indo-Pacific" has come to describe a set of interrelated maritime security challenges from the East China Sea to the Arabian Sea -- particularly as India's Navy makes forays into the South China Sea and China seeks to protect its supply routes through the Indian Ocean. But the geopolitics brought into focus...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
Steve Walt, who won last year's prize, is judging.If anyone wanted to nominate a post from the Duck, that would be a nice thing to do.
by Jon Western | 29 Nov 2011 |
In the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Joshua Goldstein and I make the case that humanitarian interventions, as part of a broader set of civilian protection mechanisms, are contributing to a reduction in mass atrocity events.To some extent, widespread skepticism is understandable: past failures have been more newsworthy than successes, and foreign interventions inevitably face steep challenges. Yet such skepticism is unwarranted. Despite the...
by Jon Western | 29 Nov 2011 |
Ante Markovic, the last Prime Minister of Yugoslavia died today at the age of 87. From 1989 to 1991, he was seen by many as the last person who could stop the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation and avert war. A darling of liberals, he tried to institute a series of political and economic reforms and to alleviate the rising nationalist discourses and pressures -- especially in Croatia and Serbia. His last ditch appeal to the international...
by Steve Saideman | 29 Nov 2011 |
The other day I briefly pondered what a Political Science Store would look like, after hearing about Anthropologie--a national chain of clothing stores.* I received a bunch of ideas via facebook, twitter, and my blog, so I had to come up with different sections of the store:Used: Tables (mostly in 2x2 dimensions); old Prisoner Dilemmas; Linear Regressions with several assumptions already violated; Political Culture arguments that come with...
by Brian Rathbun | 28 Nov 2011 |
Inspired by the post below on the broken letter of recommendation system, I began to think about the difference between what I write and what I mean. Here are the results. Please fill in your own personal favorite euphemisms below. WHAT WE WRITE: Dear Admissions Committee, I am delighted to write a letter of recommendation for Nicolette Mediocrides, who was a student in my class on international relations in Fall 2009. Nicolette was a very good...