Yesterday, the New York Times had a story about huge proposed increases in military assistance to Yemen, framed around the "war on terror." Since the Christmas day 2009 attempted airliner bombing that was linked to Yemen, the U.S. was allocated about $155 million in military aid for FY 2010 -- up from about $5 million in FY 2006.The Pentagon's latest plan calls for $1.2 billion in the next six years, about $200 million annually. That's nearly a...
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The new Global Views survey is here! The new Global Views survey is here!
I admit it, I usually look forward to the release of US and international public opinion data. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs just released this year's Global Views survey aptly titled Constrained Internationalism: Adapting to New Realities. Only a quick look so far, but a couple of things jump out on first glance: First, these views strike me as far more rational (in the Page and Shapiro sense) than the general tenor of elite and media...
Relevant? Who Me?
OK, I'll bite. Lots being written these days about the relevance of political science. The latest today from Stephen Hayward at American Enterprise Institute. I'll join with John Sides that this is an intellectually sloppy caricature of the discipline. But, I'm always struck by the question -- often posed by political scientists themselves -- are we relevant? Here's a little thought experiment on the IR/Comparative side of the discipline: let's...
Institutionalized Riot Systems and the Hyper-real Koran
Fourteen civilians and two security officers have now died in Kashmir in violence related to rumors about the "Burn a Koran Day" in Florida. When added to the death in Afghanistan, this brings the total number of deaths to seventeen so far. Many more will die in the coming weeks and months even though the Koran burning was called off. Rumors will resurface that the burning has gone ahead even though such rumors will have no basis in reality....
The Local is Global
For those of you who do not know, I live in Gainesville, Florida, a college town in Northeast Florida with lots of wonderful things - like a great bunch of colleagues, a great bunch of graduate students, weather to write home about, and a (frequently) rocking football team. It is (largely) a fairly politically progressive place, but there's still good country music - a great home to mix my Southern roots and lefty-academic tendencies. It is...
Much Ado in Mostar
OK, so I've been bit pessimistic of late -- an impending war between Israel and Iran, the rise of religious fundamentalisms around the globe, Bosnia's leadership taking the country back to the brink, etc.... But here's an upbeat story. I helped Steve Nemsick and Jane Applegate a bit on their new documentary about Andrew Garrod's work with Youth Bridge Global in the southern Bosnia-Herzegovina city of Mostar. I've spent quite a bit of time in...
The APSA Drinking Game
The following, unless otherwise specified, result in the taking of one drink for every observation/sighting at the Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association. The Duck of Minerva is not responsible for any liver damage or unfortunate choice of panel questions that may result after participating in this game.Someone wearing their conference badge at 2am or more than a mile from the actual conference site.Bow-ties.Observing...
Debate Day
When I was a college student, I spent every Labor Day working in the debate squadroom at Kansas. Everyone on the team, in fact, was expected to put in a full day working on their affirmative cases, negative arguments, etc. Sometimes, debaters learned the identity of their colleague on that day -- it is a two-person team activity after all. After the work ended, our coach and his wife hosted the team for dinner.Even though it was a Labor Day of...
The World’s Most Dangerous Crisis
[cross-posted at Current Intelligence]Earlier this week, President Obama announced the end of America’s combat mission in Iraq and pledged his commitment to begin drawing down American forces in Afghanistan beginning next summer. A key theme in his address to the nation was the need for the United States to redirect resources from nearly a decade of two wars and invest in the economy at home. Yet, although the President is trying to move away...
My Summer with Religious Rights
I've been on the road most of the summer (8 of the past 10 weeks) so the blogging has been quite light. I spent twelve days in Israel and then a bit more than three weeks doing research in Europe followed by my first real vacation in more than a decade -- a three week car trip with my kids out to visit family and friends in the upper Midwest. One of the more intriguing elements that linked all three trips was the presence of conservative,...
Preemption News
Search the current White House website for the phrase "Bush Doctrine" and "no results" are returned. However, as I've previously argued, that does not mean the Obama administration has abandoned the Bush view of "preemption" (which was really a rebranding of preventive war). This week, the Pentagon has announced a new cyber-spin on "preemptive war": The Pentagon is contemplating an aggressive approach to defending its computer systems that...
And now for something completely different–fantasy football geekery!
[Cross-posted at Signal/Noise]It's that time of year again. The passing of the summer, the start of the fall. Most importantly, it signals the start of that most magical of times--the start of the fantasy football season.This year I am in three leagues--one for work, one for "stat-geeks", and one for family and friends. I decided to tweak the way I approached the draft this year and wanted to share a bit of the strategy with readers.One of the...