by Dan Nexon | 21 Mar 2009 |
I already pimped it, but my review essay, "The Balance of Power in the Balance," just came out in World Politics (abstract). Unlike a number of other journals, World Politics subjects review essays to peer review and insists that they include original argumentation.Two of my conclusions:Balance of power theory, at least in its stronger variants, cannot survive the combined weight of arguments and evidence presented in these four volumes. while...
by Rodger Payne | 18 Mar 2009 |
Yesterday, Michael Calderone ignited a media brouhaha with his Politico piece, "JournoList: Inside the echo chamber."For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList. Lou Dobbs and Keith Olbermann talked about the email listserv on their TV programs yesterday. On the...
by Peter | 17 Mar 2009 |
Yesterday as I drove to work, two stories on NPR caught my attention with how completely out of touch the interviewees sounded about their particular fields. These are people who are highly trained, performing what used to be important--if not vital--services, and well rewarded professionally for their accomplishments. And yet, listening to them talk about the importance of preserving the culture, practices, and institutional arrangements that...
by Dan Nexon | 15 Mar 2009 |
And just complete the nationalization process.In return for the bailout, the government took an 80 percent ownership stake in the company. Liddy was recruited by former Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to run the company. Since then, the rescue package has ballooned. But both the Bush and Obama administrations have been reluctant to completely and explicitly nationalize the company, though this could have avoided the current flap over...
by Charli Carpenter | 15 Mar 2009 |
An AP article claiming that "legendary outlaw Robin Hood wasn't as popular as folklore suggests" has been picked up by a number of media outlets. Presumably one Professor Julian Lukford of the UK has drawn this conclusion based on a monk's scrawl in a history book circa 1460:"Writing in Latin, the monk accuses Hood of "infesting Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies."OK, so Robin Hood was perceived as a thief...
by Dan Nexon | 13 Mar 2009 |
Anthony Weiss in The Forward:Elders of Zion to RetireThe Elders of Zion, the venerable and shadowy Jewish organization that controls the international banking industry, news media and Hollywood, has announced that it is disbanding so that members can retire to Florida and live out their golden years on the golf course.“We had a good run,” said one senior Elder, reminiscing over old photographs of world leaders in his musty, wood-paneled office...
by Dan Nexon | 13 Mar 2009 |
Direct from the website that makes us all ashamed to be Political Scientists, I bring you this gem from a discussion about eliminating Political Theory to conserve resources in Political Science departments (yes, that's a not an uncommon sentiment in the field, PTJ's views notwithstanding).The whole discussion between realists, constructivist, etc. has dissapeared from the top journals (IO, World Politics, etc.) since the 80sI can only sigh,...
by Charli Carpenter | 12 Mar 2009 |
One more bit of coolness from the YouTube conference before I move on to other things.Richard Rogers of University of Amsterdam gave the keynote here in Amherst this past week. It included this very intriguing video produced by Govcom.org.
by Charli Carpenter | 12 Mar 2009 |
I kid you not. The Chicago Tribune reports the following:"On March 17, there will be a "Battlestar" retrospective at the U.N. in New York and a panel discussion of how the show examined issues such as "human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, human rights and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faith," according to Sci Fi. The "Battlestar" contingent on the panel will consist of executive producers Ronald D. Moore...
by Rodger Payne | 11 Mar 2009 |
Over the weekend, the AP ran a story based on high-level Israeli sources suggesting that Iran's nuclear program has "crossed the threshold," which implied that the program is now militarized: Iran is now capable of producing atomic weapons, Israel's top military intelligence officer said Sunday, sounding the highest-level warning that Israel's archenemy has achieved independent nuclear capability.At a Cabinet meeting, the chief of military...
by Charli Carpenter | 11 Mar 2009 |
On the Report tonight, Stephen Colbert gave a long, funny, monologue about how he is more hip-hop-pop-cultural-savvy than Michael Steele. Then, in the following segment on Node 3 of the International Space Station, he (and his screenwriters) seemingly demonstrated a surprising lack of cultural literacy. How else to explain their disbelief at the fact that "Serenity" beat out "Colbert" as one of the most-recommended names for Node 3? Watch the...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 10 Mar 2009 |
In other depressing academic-job-market-related news, Wisconsin Lutheran College has apparently decided to eliminate its entire Political Science department. Indeed, they appear to be removing Political Science entirely from their list of offerings:[A spokeswoman] noted that current majors will be able to take political science at other colleges in the area, at Wisconsin Lutheran's expense. And she said that the college determined it wasn't...