by Steve Saideman | 2 Nov 2011 | Featured
Twitter inspired a conversation today with Starbuck about Eliot Cohen, who wrote a very important book on civil-military relation, Supreme Command. It features case studies where civilian leaders over-rode military officers, focusing on Lincoln, Churchill, Clemenceau and Ben-Gurion. Clemenceau had said that war was too important to be left to the generals, and I agree. I found Cohen's book very persuasive despite:the extreme selection bias:...
by Brian Rathbun | 1 Nov 2011 |
If you stumble upon a political scientist unwittingly, perhaps mid-conversation at a party, you might assume they are a great humanitarian or an artist. Who else would make constant references to “my work,” with the implication that what he or she does if of enormous social and political consequence? You will be puzzled. Certainly no one wearing Dockers can be pushing the boundaries of social convention. And if this person is such an agent of...
by Jay Ulfelder | 1 Nov 2011 |
On October 23, Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC) declared the country liberated and the transition to a post-Gaddafi state officially underway. Over the following week, we've seen the first of what I expect will be many stories about tensions and conflict among the groups over whom the TNC is claiming authority. Here's the opening to one such story, from today's Washington Post:Libya has emerged from its civil war with more than 300...
by Dan Nexon | 1 Nov 2011 |
At about 13.10 GOP poll-leader Herman Cain reveals the shocking news that the People's Republic of China is seeking nuclear-weapons capability. Watch Monday, October 31, 2011 on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.Next interview: Cain discusses the threat posed by UK, French, and Russian nuclear proliferation. George Will swoons.
by Kate Weaver | 31 Oct 2011 |
I've been a very bad (lame) duck of late, but for good reason. On top of many other duties, I am teaching a new graduate seminar this semester on Global Economic Governance with some very smart and fun students at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Each week we start the class by digging into the current news, which lately has been a veritable feast for IPE junkies. We've had particular fun with the Occupy Wall Street...
by Rodger Payne | 28 Oct 2011 |
Last week, at University of Bristol, I gave a talk called "The Future of World Order" to the student International Affairs Society. It was a speculative lecture, based on my 17 years directing the Grawemeyer Award (for Ideas Improving World Order) more than my scholarship per se. I warned the audience from the start of two personal biases: (1) I am an optimist; and (2) I don't really put much stock in specific predictions. I tried to stick to...
by Charli Carpenter | 28 Oct 2011 |
Found this baby while prepping slides for my "Battlestar Galactica and Civil-Military Relations" panel presentation at ISA-Northeast conference next week. Happy Friday.
by PM | 27 Oct 2011 | Featured
Over on the other side of the methods divide, Andrew Gelman shares a tip: Caffeine, a lightweight and free app for Macs that keeps them awake even when you haven't clicked on them for a while. But let me double down on Gelman with a tip that, if used improperly, could destroy your computer: Insomniax, which doesn't just keep your Mac awake but actually disables its sleep function. In other words, if you have to move from one place to another...
by Rodger Payne | 26 Oct 2011 |
Are student-athletes better prepared to complete a college degree in a reasonable amount of time than the general student body? Given the stereotypes many people share about "jocks," this may seem like a startling question. Yet, the NCAA released evidence this week that claims to demonstrate that student-athletes graduate at a very high rate, often at much higher rates than other students at the same institutions. My local newspaper, the...
by Brian Rathbun | 26 Oct 2011 |
The Canard"All the fake news that's fit to print"--CyberspaceReaders of the popular blog “Duck of Minerva” are expressing a mix of consternation and concern with the disappearance of many of the ducks on the site. Charli Carpenter, Stephanie Carvin and Dan Nexon, normally reliable for a couple of quacks a week on important issues of foreign affairs, have not been heard from in weeks, sometimes months, and those who peruse the site regularly are...
by Vikash Yadav | 25 Oct 2011 | Featured
The US does not negotiate with terrorist groups.*^*This statement does not yet apply to the Haqqani Network in Pakistan; even though its founder and senior leadership have all been individually designated as terrorists. [ Oh, come on Vikash, the US negotiated with "reached out" to that group before Admiral Mullen's testimony to Congress. Until that testimony we had no idea that a group founded and led by people we call terrorists could...
by Josh Busby | 23 Oct 2011 | Featured
On Friday, I gave some remarks in Dallas, Texas to a group of young leaders from different professions as part of the Next Generation Project organized by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. For this diverse audience, I tested what I described in my last post a "Go Right" messaging strategy on global warming, designed to appeal to partisans and nonpartisans alike. You be the judge if this effort was successful. I've added...