by Charli Carpenter | 5 Oct 2008 |
I have a post up right now at Complex Terrain Lab about developments in the area of autonomous weaponry as a response to asymmetric security environments. While fully autonomous weapons are some distance away, a number of researchers and bloggers argue that these trends in military technology have significant moral implications for implementing the laws of war. In particular, such writers question whether machines can be designed to make...
by Charli Carpenter | 5 Oct 2008 |
AP reports, in an article titled "Somali Pirates Stare Down Superpowers":With a Russian frigate closing in and a half-dozen U.S. warships within shouting distance, the pirates holding a tanker off Somalia's coast might appear to have no other choice than to wave the white flag. But that's not how it works in Somalia, a failed state where a quarter of children die before they turn 5, where anybody with a gun controls the streets and where every...
by Charli Carpenter | 5 Oct 2008 |
As I always tell my World Politics 101 students, the word is "nuclear," folks. Noo-clee-ahr. No such word as "nuk-ya-lar"! Yet here we go, Sarah Palin on the stage pontificating about nukes (HT to Moira Whelan at Democracy Arsenal):Seems like a silly thing to bitch about, eh? But goddammit, the thought of listening to my President or Vice-President further embarrass our country and belittle the incredible threat posed by these weapons by...
by Dan Nexon | 3 Oct 2008 |
it is bad enough that our professional pundits feel compelled to tell us what "average Americans" think, but do bloggers really have to imitate this particularly insipid form of analysis?The polls give it to Biden. As dubious as these "snap" surveys are, I think they're a better indicator of what your average (undecided) American thinks.I don't have any profound insights about this debate. I thought McCain won on points last week, and I think...
by Dan Nexon | 3 Oct 2008 |
by Peter | 3 Oct 2008 |
I'm watching the debate. Not even 10 minutes in and its anti-climatic.Palin: I'm not going to answer the questions the way you or the moderator want to hear, I'm going to talk straight to the American people.I'm not sure what that means.I can't wait until a student shows up in class and says I'm not going to answer the question on the test the way the professor or the students want, I'm going to write my blue book straight to the American...
by Dan Nexon | 2 Oct 2008 |
The bailout fails by 12 votes in the House of Representatives. So what does the Senate leadership do? Come up with a significantly different plan? Decide that the Democrats are going to own this thing anyway so they might as well pass a strong progressive alternative? Make marginal changes targeted at specific objections offered by "movable" opponents?No. Reid and company decide that if we're going to pile on another $7,000,000,000 in debt...
by Rodger Payne | 2 Oct 2008 |
Current polls reveal that the economy is at the top of voters' agenda and that they trust Senator Barack Obama to handle the ongoing crisis better than Senator John McCain. Today's Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll, for example, has Obama leading 51%-44% overall and by 63-32 "among voters who name the economy as the top voting issue."However, that same poll revealed that McCain has a whopping 74-24 lead "among those who say that national security...
by Dan Nexon | 2 Oct 2008 |
In an interview from a few months ago, Palin discusses the Supreme Court's decision to limit the damages payed by Exxon for the Exxon Valdez oil spill. While she's not saying anything that requires an advanced degree, she's articulate, poised and confident.But in the CBS News footage last night, she's incapable of naming a Supreme Court decision, other than Roe v. Wade, that she disagrees with.The contrast is simply remarkable. Is the McCain...
by Peter | 1 Oct 2008 |
David Leonhardt does a better job than most explaining the significance of the ongoing economic crisis and its parallel to the great depression. He finally understands the need to connect the dots, from bank failure, to credit crisis to impact on your household economy.The crucial point is that a modern economy can’t function when people can’t easily get credit. It takes a while for this to become obvious, since most companies and households...
by Charli Carpenter | 1 Oct 2008 |
No sooner did I blog about the growing security threat posed by maritime piracy than several powerful militaries took notice... not because I was particularly persuasive, but because a Ukranian freighter loaded down with $30 million worth of tanks, grenade launchers and other military equipment was captured by marauders off the coast of Somalia.Two dozen crew members are still hostage aboard the MV Faina, now anchored off the Somali coast,...
by Dan Nexon | 1 Oct 2008 |
One of my classes is currently doing a unit on "Prospects for US Primacy." It follows my usual design for such sequences: some balance-of-power theory applied to unipolar orders, followed by hegemonic-order theory, and then a smattering of the "US Empire" debate.Today we worked through some different conceptions of power and balancing, before winding up on a discussion of soft balancing. Next week we're going to mostly eschew lecturing--I did...