by Bill Petti | 28 Nov 2009 |
This week, the government of Dubai decided to delay payment on the tens of billions of dollars that it's Dubai World holding owes to various creditors (UBS speculates as much as $80B). Dubai World is the vehicle through which the state has invested heavily in various real estate projects around the world. In order to fund the expansive projects and investments, the government sought billions in debt to fuel their initiatives.By delaying payment...
by Charli Carpenter | 27 Nov 2009 |
As a once-a-year-antidote to my usual posts on human (in)security, today let me briefly note a few positive news stories about which we should all be thankful this season:1) Despite the recession, burglaries are down 30% in major US cities. I am thankful for this, and for the spirit of sharing, simplicity and honesty that unites people during hard times.2) Political leaders may not have figured out how to do it yet, but protecting the planet we...
by Charli Carpenter | 25 Nov 2009 |
According to CNN, administration officials just announced that after a "review" of US landmine policy, they will maintain the policy of previous administrations in refusing to sign the Ottawa treaty. According to State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly:"We made our policy review and we determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this...
by Charli Carpenter | 25 Nov 2009 |
Jon recently blogged about humanitarian law and violence in video games. Last month two Swiss NGOs published a 46-page report on the topic, examining a number of popular game for their laws-of-war content, finding them lacking and proposing industry-wide norm change: The aim of the study is to raise public awareness among developers and publishers of the games, as well as among authorities, educators and the media about virtually committed...
by Jon Western | 24 Nov 2009 |
I know the EU is often dysfunctional, but this really shocked me. Last week, the EU selected Herman van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister, as the European Union’s first president, and Catherine Ashton of Britain, currently the group’s trade commissioner, as its high representative for foreign policy. (She's also the Baroness Ashton of Upholland).Rompuy has been on the job in Belgium for less than a year and Ashton has no foreign policy...
by Charli Carpenter | 24 Nov 2009 |
I was just complaining to a friend how I'm not such a fan of the Iphone I recently bought, but here's a reason to rethink: the new Iphone Death Star app. Of course, it's no Star Wars: Pod Racer. But as someone who recently bummed around on an old Atari machine while on a vacation to business trip in Portland, (and who has a seven-year old son), I'm pretty pleased.
by Laura Sjoberg | 24 Nov 2009 |
I know most of you must have thought I disappeared from the blog world. Apparently, I've found something I am unreliable about. I'd tell you it has been a crazy semester, but that would be a bad excuse. I'd promise to do better, but its a promise I'm not sure I can keep. So, instead, I'll just post (for the second time in one night) about something I've been doing some work on ... helping to start the LGBTQA Caucus of the ISA. The purposes of...
by Laura Sjoberg | 24 Nov 2009 |
David Kirkpatrick yesterday wrote in the New York Times about how the health care debate is reviving the abortion debate in US politics. I read this article right after I saw a film that several of my feminist colleagues and friends recommended, called "Not Yet Rain." Among other things at issue in this film is the Helms Amendment to the U.S. 1973 Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the use of U.S. aid funds to "motivate or coerce" or...
by Rodger Payne | 23 Nov 2009 |
President Obama has been receiving a fair amount of heat lately for "dithering" about U.S. policy towards Afghanistan. After all, the administration has been thinking through its Afghan policy since late summer. Critics in the opposition party say the President's decision is "long overdue" and that the "strategy review" needs to move from the "evaluation phase" to the "execution phase" ASAP.Administration officials have long said that the...
by Rodger Payne | 20 Nov 2009 |
Annually, the University of Louisville awards significant cash prizes in five fields: Music Composition, Religion, Education, Psychology, and World Order.For about 15 years, I have directed the administration of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Basically, I chair the initial review committee that is housed within the Department of Political Science.The Award's basic purpose is described on our webpage:Submissions will be...
by Charli Carpenter | 19 Nov 2009 |
I won't be blogging much until I get back from the west coast, where I've gone this week to assist my colleague Alex Montgomery with his nuclear diplomacy simulation at Reed College. As luck would have it, this issue of International Studies Perspectives has a useful article on simulations as a pedagogical tool in IR classes. This article reflects some experiences in teaching International Relations (IR) by using films to supplement the use of...
by Bill Petti | 17 Nov 2009 |
Two topics that are right up my alley: international conflict and data visualization. Put the two together, and you have a truly thought provoking piece of work.David McCandless is a "visual journalist" who specializes in visualizing data across numerous subjects. In his latest work for The Guardian's Data Blog, David visualize a ton of data regarding troop deaths and injuries, size of forces by country, as well as the civilian toll in...