On June 27th the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, and chief of military intelligence Abdualla Al-Senussi for:crimes against humanity (murder and persecution) allegedly committed across Libya from 15 February 2011 until at least 28 February 2011, through the State apparatus and Security Forces.The judges believe there is "reasonable grounds" to attribute...
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Partisanship vs. Policy: the Housing Bubble Debate
Morgensen's and Rosner's new book appears to have breathed new life into claims that responsibility for the housing bubble can be laid at the feet of Democrats, ACORN, and Fannie and Freddie. Given that buyers of the book at Amazon are also snatching up works by Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, and Andrew Breitbart, I'm pretty sure that it is on its way to becoming the housing-bubble bible for all those who also are learning how Constantine's...
The Balkans after Mladic
With Mladic's arrest last month, Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans are getting some much needed international attention. The New York Times has a nice run-down of some of the debates about the situation in Bosnia -- especially the debate between Kurt Bassuener from the Democratization Policy Council and Gerald Knaus from the European Stabilization Initiative. The piece is a spin-off from a conference that Daniel Serwer from SAIS helped put...
Stuff political scientists like #5 — a Large N
I have been doing a lot of work with survey data lately, as well as some reading in critical theory. Maybe that inspired my deconstruction of the gendered language of stats. Or maybe I just like to work blue. Your girlfriend has told you, "Honey, your data set is big enough for me. It's OK if it doesn't get you into the APSR." She might tell you, "It is not the size of p-value that matters, it is what you do with it." A good theory can make up...
En Garde, Lagarde
I happened to be walking up 19th Street in downtown DC today in the early afternoon. Numerous media vans were parked along the road, and the sidewalks between F and H Streets were filled with eager reporters and bemused staff, obviously enjoying a long lunch break. A stranger, clearly new to the area, came up to me and asked, "Do you know where 700 19th Street is?"Me: "Are you looking for the IMF?"Lost stranger (from the UN in New York, as it...
New Deal for BBC World Service Weakens Britain’s Soft Power?
Una Marson, George Orwell, T.S. Eliot and others at the World Service during WW2The reputation of the BBC World Service around the world reflects that of Britain generally. It’s an institution tied to colonial history. It aspires to global reach. Through its journalism it tries to uphold values of impartiality and objectivity, and therein lies the attractive, soft power dimension. As an institution, however, it cannot escape appearing partial –...
Realist Dreams
The Realist tradition in International Relations long ago won the big battle by getting the best name. By calling itself Realism, the realist tradition makes all other approaches to IR seem idealistic, based in dreams but not realities. Anything but grounded in hard, cold calculations of how things really are. But the joy of realism is how often its acolytes indulge in fantasy. Ah, but only if we could have the good old days of the cold...
Does Menstruation Explain the Gender Wage Gap?: A Kiwi theory
The CEO of the Employers & Manufacturers Association, an association that promotes New Zealand businesses, Alasdair Thompson sparked a heated debate last week when, during a discussion on equal pay, he publicly claimed that women’s productivity was impacted by their periods. He claimed that women “take the most sick leave” and explained “ you know, once a month they have sick problems. Not all women, but some do.” He later went on to say “Men...
Carlos
Cross-posted from my personal blog, by suggestion of a Vikash Yadav tweet.I've now watched the first two parts of "Carlos," a three-part French-produced television miniseries that was broadcast on Sundance this past month. Édgar Ramírez is terrific in the title (star-making) role, though his character is hardly sympathetic. The notorious terrorist is portrayed as an unusual killer -- part playboy, part-diplomat, and part-frustrated...
Friday Nerd Blogging: GoT IR?
I was recently asked whether Game of Thrones was going to become "the cult IR series of 2011." My initial response, spouted on a FB update was, "it remains to be seen," not least since by next Spring GoT will of course be competing with Blood and Chrome.)As of today, however, "seen" it has clearly been, with multiple IR bloggers posting on various "IRGoT" themes. So I guess that answers that. We can look forward to a veritable bevy of...
Sleepwalking Towards Strategy
Must strategy be named to be practiced? Nowadays we tend to look for strategy as something that folk write down and codify. We live in logocentric times, where strategy is linked to formal declaratory documents, advisory councils and institutions dedicated to thinking about how to relate our power and our commitments, our resources and our goals.Of course, that dubious definition would disqualify all sorts of states from having a grand...
Friday Nerdism, A Day Early
Charli Carpenter has thrown down the gauntlet. She has pondered (on facebook) whether/why IR folks have not been blogging about Game of Thrones. Why? Because we are tired. Every episode is such great TV that we are left in awe. Our brains are so focused on getting the names straight, understanding the dynamics within each family and between them, that we no brainpower left to use.Spoilers lurk below: Ok, that was an excuse. The real...