by Dan Nexon | 18 Jul 2008 |
Ethics and pragmatism sometimes align in matters of war and peace, and other times they work at cross purposes. Two recent examples illustrate this rather banal point:1. Brian Ulrich calls attention to what might be charitably described as a misguided Israeli tactic for dealing with Hamas in the West Bank:It's long been said that Hamas is popular because of its social services. Israel's defense establishment is now on the case:"Israeli military...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 17 Jul 2008 |
Donald Douglas replies to my post on neoconservatism, which was of course a reply to his original post. Unfortunately, he does so by misreading my argument on two key points. First, he claims that "Jackson wants to argue that neoconservatism can't be foundational in American foreign policy because it violates an inherent 'liberal internationalist' conception of American exceptionalism that is purportedly the only legitimate kind" of...
by Dan Nexon | 17 Jul 2008 |
Dr. iRak has a terrific discussion of the increasingly confusing information concerning whether or not Maliki called for a US withdrawal from Iraq.It makes good reading in conjunction with today's New York Times article discussing the ambivalence many Iraqis feel about a possible Obama victory.I made a brief case against a US pullout from Iraq lat December. But I also see the wisdom behind Obama's plan to use a phased withdraw as a way of...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 17 Jul 2008 |
Donald Douglas over at American Power weighs in with a laudatory post about Brian Rathbun's recent article -- an article in which neoconservatism is equated with and defined as "moral nationalism." "Moral" here means that neoconservatism offers something other than a set of factual observations on which to base foreign policy, but instead spins out a normative justification for the rectitude of particular policies, particularly policies...
by Charli Carpenter | 17 Jul 2008 |
Due to more than one misinterpretation of the original version of this post, I have altered the title and extended / clarified the argument, which now reads as follows:In the wake of Mugabe's "re-election," political violence in the country is on the increase. Jake Farr Wharton has a modest proposal: "Mugabe’s forces violently bullied and intimidated the people of Zimbabwe into a second election. Last week, Tsvangiri withdrew his candidacy,...
by Dan Nexon | 16 Jul 2008 |
I don't post a great deal on Israel-Palestine issues. I basically want to see a peace deal that involves an equitable variant of the two-state solution and that empowers moderates on both sides. I don't have much sympathy for those who want to paint the conflict in black-and-white terms, and I get sick of the way that advocates of one side or the other spotlight the various infractions of their opponents.But f*ck it, this is just...
by Dan Nexon | 15 Jul 2008 |
Although I failed to make the connection, thanks to D we now know of the sinister connection between the Svalbard and Zombine menaces. Given accumulating evidence that climate change will increase Zombie activity, this is a truly frightening development and may help to explain the broader relationship between the Panzerbjørn and the Zombies.But recent weeks have also seen a flurry of suspicious activity around Svalbard, including:• An increase...
by Charli Carpenter | 14 Jul 2008 |
Geez, get off the grid for ten days or so, come back to find Zimbabwe on the verge of civil war, the International Criminal Court indicting Bashir on charges of genocide (now that is a shocker), the zombies overtaking Norway, and Christopher Hitchens reversing himself on whether waterboarding is torture. (Makes a big difference in perspective whether you undergo the procedure yourself.)My favorite quote from his new expose in Vanity Fair, aptly...
by Dan Nexon | 13 Jul 2008 |
Duncan Bartlett of the BBC reports on the living conditions on Svalbard.Residents of Norway's Svalbard Islands are used to dealing with the dangers of polar bears but, for one remote settlement, wild animals are not the only worry.It is forbidden to die in the Arctic town of Longyearbyen.Should you have the misfortune to fall gravely ill, you can expect to be despatched by aeroplane or ship to another part of Norway to end your days.And if you...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 13 Jul 2008 |
In this morning's Washington Post, Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier deliver a sustained case for the next president's not having a "doctrine" of his own. "Solving problems is more important than laying out all-encompassing ideological pronouncements," they declare; "the world we live in is too diverse for anything else."I have no quarrel with their basic suggestion that attempting to force the world into an ideological straightjacket is almost...
by Dan Nexon | 11 Jul 2008 |
Depending on how one looks at it, the fact that some Democratic Hilary Clinton supporters are willing to betray everything she stands for in order to "punish" the party for nominating Barack Obama is either perplexing, amusing, or just plain sad.Not that there aren't plenty of reasons why someone would support McCain over Clinton and Obama. But the rank ordering of Clinton > McCain > Obama--for anyone with actual policy concerns--is simply...
by Dan Nexon | 11 Jul 2008 |
Even the most causal observers of US-Russian relations must have realized by now that the Kremlin is apoplectic over the prospect of US ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in Eastern Europe. How has the Kremlin responded to news of the US-Czech radar deal? They're not happy. Reuters: Russia warned after the signing on Tuesday it would react with unspecified military-technical means if the shield is deployed."The Czech side... voiced concerns over...