Dear Dr. Journal Editor, As I mentioned in "Part I" of this letter, I "lost" this battle, and it matters to me.Why? Because it's not just "work" to me that happens to be on a particular topic because it is an interesting question. I believe all knowledge has a politics, acknowledged or not, and I acknowledge mine. I do feminist work because I'm interested in deconstructing gender hierarchies in IR as a discipline and in global politics more...
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BMD and NATO not quite BFD, but a step in the right direction
NATO agrees to missile-defense mission. Somewhat paradoxically, this is true even if you're lukewarm on ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in general, or the Phased Adaptive Approach in particular. Why? The more NATO presents a united front, the more likely the Russians are to cooperate on BMD and BMD-related issues, which not only reduces an irritant in relations but mitigates against some of the potentially destabilizing implications of BMD...
The Transition
In discussing the planned handover of security responsibilities to the Afghan National Army, Vice President Joe Biden stated:"Daddy is going to start to take the training wheels off in October -- I mean in next July -- so you'd better practice riding," he said of the plan that will be outlined at the NATO summit in Lisbon. (ABC News Radio)The undiluted mix of imperialism and paternalism, while embarrassing from a public relations standpoint,...
A (not so) open letter to a journal editor (or five): Part I
(a letter I've thought about writing a dozen times over the last decade of being a feminist researcher)Dear Dr. Journal Editor, I submitted an article to your (big) journal in my (general) field. I don't know if it was of the quality to be published in your (spiffy) journal or not, but, to be honest, I was trusting you to figure that out. You betrayed my trust, and in spades. Your journal presents a pluralistic face, and lets in the occasional...
Latest Data on Drone Casualties
A study published in the Jamestown Foundations' Terrorism Monitor a few days ago claims it sheds "New Light on the Accuracy of the CIA's Predator Drone Campaign in Pakistan." (Never mind the fact that as civilians, CIA agents are not entitled to wage war and would have to be considered 'unlawful combatants' if brought to justice.) The question addressed here is a simple but very important one from a jus in bello perspective: what is the...
BBC spy miniseries upsets China, but how real is it? Let’s play Spooks bingo!
The BBC has offended the Chinese government because its primetime show Spooks (Mi5 in North America) has depicted Chinese intelligence agents in an unflattering light, reported here and here in the last few days. The plot saw MI5 trying to prevent an ‘ethnic weapon’ falling into Chinese hands, with much chasing around London and a few sinister and, perhaps, stereotypically Chinese baddies (judge for yourself in the Guardian screenshot here). As...
MarkZism Redux: “Tyranny or Transcendence?”
Some colleagues suggested my earlier blialogue with my husband about the socio-political implications of Facebook's ever-changing architecture would be more entertaining in video format. Also, I was further galvanized to speak out about the perils of MarkZism when I learned that someone I love has apparently committed a Facebook suicide. So, I played around with Xtranormal this weekend. Enjoy.
(Head of) State Secrets
As I've already noted, former President George W. Bush is apparently settling some scores in his new memoir. In Europe, his passages about former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are attracting a good deal of attention.According to press reports, Bush says Schroder was for the Iraq war before it was against it. Because of his own electoral problems, Bush implies, Schroeder flip-flopped. The former president writes that when he said he was...
Bush: McConnell plays politics with national security
In his new memoir, former President George W. Bush says that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) let electoral politics influence his advice about the Iraq war in 2006. Cincinnati's CityBeat has the exchange from Bush's memoir: "In September 2006, with the midterm elections approaching, my friend Mitch McConnell came to the Oval Office. The senior senator from Kentucky and Republican whip had asked to see me alone. Mitch has a sharp...
Currency Rap, or “your IR youtube video du jour”
Drip, drip, drip
I do not own a copy of the George W. Bush memoirs, but I have been following the bits and pieces that appear in my newspaper. I'm going to try to blog about a few of the most important items, especially as they pertain to my past blogging and/or research interests.For example, the former President confirms that Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in September 2002. This has long been a matter of discussion on the Duck.Even more...
The NYT op-ed page remains a fact-free zone
Even if John Bolton's and John Yoo's latest missive against New START ratification had been scrawled in crayon on the back of a cardboard box, it still would have been a waste of precious resources.Rather than explain why, I'll just outsource to Fred Kaplan.