by Rodger Payne | 21 Apr 2009 |
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...
by Randy Waterhouse | 21 Apr 2009 |
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,...
by Dan Nexon | 21 Apr 2009 |
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,...
by Rodger Payne | 19 Apr 2009 |
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...
by Charli Carpenter | 19 Apr 2009 |
(A blog response to "The Academy Strikes Back" by Dan Drezner.)Also, see here and here.
by Charli Carpenter | 19 Apr 2009 |
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...
by Charli Carpenter | 18 Apr 2009 |
A brilliant aspect of the conference I just attended was the the fact that presenters were required to create YouTube versions of their research. Some of the videos I liked best are here.A radical idea: what if conference presenters at venues like ISA prepared 3-5 minute videos instead of giving 15-minute presentations. Panelists would appear but not speak until time to field questions. Each video would run, a discussant would present concise...
by Charli Carpenter | 18 Apr 2009 |
Max Harper, who piloted the concept of the Blueprint for Change videos for President Obama's 2008 campaign, provided a point-by-point playbook today for how the Obama campaign used Web 2.0 to win the election.At first, I found myself wondering how he could speak so candidly about it. But then again, Harper and everyone in the room understood one key feature of the political revolution he was describing: that because of the dynamic relationship...
by Dan Nexon | 15 Apr 2009 |
Over at Donald's place, I predicted that the total turnout for the "tax protests" would be about the size of a single large Obama rally. Based on the numbers we've seen, that sounds about right.Puts things in perspective.I also noted that the AP story contains the following:Organizers said the movement developed organically through online social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and through exposure on Fox News.All of the main guys...
by Dan Nexon | 15 Apr 2009 |
I would be negligent if I did not call attention to three important developments on the nuclear proliferation front.First, the Ukrainian government claims to have arrested three of its citizens--including one local politician--who were trying to sell radioactive material.The metal cylinder supposedly contained eight pounds of plutonium 239, a highly dangerous radioactive material that could be used in a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb. The...
by Charli Carpenter | 15 Apr 2009 |
As some of you may recall, I began my blogging career on the Duck by commenting on the political impact and appropriation of YouTube. Back then it was citizens using YouTube to ask questions of the Presidential candidates. Now President Obama is doing with YouTube what FDR did with radio. Good thing my colleagues up here in the Pioneer Valley have organized a conference on the way YouTube is impacting US politics, so that I don't have to divert...
by Peter | 14 Apr 2009 |
Joe Nye has an op-ed in Monday’s Washington Post decrying the gap between theory and policy in political science. You should read it, in part because its the most press our discipline is likely to get this year, which almost proves his point. I am largely sympathetic to his view, and I lament the fact that our profession, which professes to understand how the world works, has seemingly so little to offer in terms of useful insight to those who...