To continue a thread I started some weeks ago: If you're thinking about getting a Ph.D., think again. Its a dysfunctional industry. From today's NY Times op-ed pages, Mark Taylor writes:GRADUATE education is the Detroit of higher learning. Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market (candidates for teaching positions that do not exist) and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand...
Displaying Results for ""
Edward James Olmos at the United Nations
Watch the entire proceedings of the Battlestar Galactica cast's visit to the United Nations here.
The Allah-father
Interesting post this morning over at The Argument on the similarities between the Taliban and organized crime. This idea echoes earlier (and interesting) work by Charles Tilly on the origins of the state. While I think Peters' analysis is interesting and thought provoking, I don't think it means we should ignore the religious aspect of the movement. Understanding the criminal aspects of their enterprise is useful for gaining perspective on...
Troubling Advances in Pakistan: Signs of Failure? (updated)
My first semester in graduate school I had the pleasure of attending a talk by General Wesley Clark (Ret.). He gave the talk not soon after the attacks of September 11th and the US offensive in Afghanistan. At the time, Clark was just begining a PR offensive that would eventually position him as a contender for the Democratic nomination in 2004. During the Q&A I asked him a question about the regional dynamics going forward as a result of the...
Peer reviewing: a call to arms (updated)
I just turned down a request that I review for a journal because, in part, they failed to send me an anonymized copy of the decision letter the last time I reviewed for them. And this despite the journal using an electronic review system that automates the process.I can think of a number of reasons why all peer-reviewed journals should be required to supply reviewers with copies of their decision letters. In no particular order:(1) It provides...
Routes and Bases: Developments in Central Asia
I've been hearing rumors to the effect that US negotiators have cut a deal with the Kyrgyz government to allow continued use of Manas. But media sources remain silent, except to note that the Russians are sending additional warplanes to their own base in Kyrgyzstan. Instead, they report on a new US-Tajik agreement to allow transit rights for non-military supplies to Afghanistan. This adds to existing deals with Uzbekistan and Russia.But,...
Can recession cause regime change?
Joshua Kurlantzick recently argued that the global economic downturn might spell doom for a number of autocratic governments around the world. Most, he argues, have staked their legitimacy on economic performance. Dramaticaly reduced world demand for consumer goods and energy threatens states like China, Russia, and Venezuela (and perhaps also Iran and other OPEC states): Modern autocracies are very different from those of the past. Rather than...
Cyber Developments: National Security Edition
The Wall Street Journal reported today that hackers have breached classified data on the United States' Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program (the F-35). (For those without a subscription, here is the Reuters story). The scale and nature of information the hackers were able to obtain appears quite significant--however, the most sensitive data did not reside on servers connected to the web, which is good news.The default suspect is, of course,...
I’m shocked, shocked to find insurgents in this region
It would be funny, except that it isn't.Taleban militants operating in Pakistan's Swat region who agreed a peace deal with the government have expanded operations into nearby Buner.Dozens of militants have been streaming into bordering Buner to take over mosques and government offices.Buner is part of the Malakand region, which has just seen the implementation of Sharia law under the peace deal.But the Taleban have mainly operated in Swat,...
Iraq: The Undead and the Dead
For some time, the media has been losing interest in America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Portland at the International Affairs symposium I previously mentioned, Washington Post journalist Thomas Ricks named a handful of news agencies covering Iraq -- and then claimed that no others remained in-country. He named his own paper, the New York Times, CNN, and McClatchey. He may have mentioned one or two more that I've forgotten, and he may...
Revenge of the Geeks
(A blog response to "The Academy Strikes Back" by Dan Drezner.)Also, see here and here.
Piracy and International Law
Before heading over to the YouTube Conference keynote, I tuned in for a few hours Thursday morning to the Harvard University Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum's latest live webcast. (Recording can be accessed here.)Thursday morning's discussion: the status of pirates and piracy in international law.I didn't catch the whole thing because I had to run to an 11:00 meeting, but key points of discussion included: 1) Practical concerns such as the...