Over at Donklephont, Michael Reynolds tackles foreign policy through his lens of self-proclaimed centrism. In doing so, he makes some important errors. The first, and less obvious, is that he conflates broader approaches to foreign policy with specific ideological positions within the American political tradition. Thus, he treats realism as co-equal with what he takes to be (a) contemporary American liberal outlooks on foreign policy, (b)...

During one IR seminar in grad school (this would have been about 1985), George Quester pointed out on several occasions that a good book could be written comparing international relations and mobsters. Has anyone done that in the past two decades?Maybe the point is too obvious. It certainly would not be especially controversial to realists like John Mearsheimer:For Realists, all states are basically black boxes that behave the same way. If the...

Rodger is certainly right that posting has been light due to grading. However, in my case the combination of spring break and massive amounts of grading offered me the opportunity to watch the World Baseball Classic the past two days. And while I admit that I was somewhat skeptical of the whole enterprise when it was announced (Rob still has some issues with the WBC), the past two days of games that I was able to watch (and the highlights of...

Vice President Dick Cheney found a friendly audience for his latest hawkish statements about Iran, but his March 7 speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee 2006 Policy Conference was obviously quite constrained compared to what he and others in the Bush administration used to say about Iraq, back in 2002 and early 2003. To begin, Cheney focuses exlusively on nuclear weapons, rather than the more ubiquitous notion of "weapons...

I suspect that the other bloggers at the Duck have been relatively silent lately for the same reasons that I have been quiet. We're grading stacks of student midterm exams (or papers) and writing our own papers for the upcoming International Studies Association Annual Meeting.If you need something to do while we're temporarily distracted, I suggest renting "Owning Mahowny" and "Freeway." The former features a first-rate performance by...

Duck of Minerva has been nominated for two Koufax blog awards, given annually to the best "lefty" blogs. To vote, simply go to the link and leave a comment in favor of Duck of Minerva.Best New BlogBest Group BlogWhile you're voting, cast a ballot for Phronesisaical for Most Deserving of Wider RecognitionFiled as: Koufax awards

The Bull Moose says we're in a "clash of civilizations." Not that long ago, Marc Schulman made the same point. Marc notes, quoting Pew data, that the Bush administration's repeated claims that the war on terror is not directed at Islam have "failed to impress" many Muslims:Sizable percentages of Muslims in many countries with significant Muslim populations also believe that suicide bombings can be justified in order to defend Islam from its...

States I've visited--and I'm not counting the inside of airports or the corridors of an interstate.Create your own visited states map.I can't, unfortunately, come up with any sort of "cute" pattern for my travels.UPDATE: my international travel? Not so impressive.Create your own visited countries mapVia Republic of Heaven.Filed as: geekery

Oxblog's David Adesnik and Michael McFaul just published an article (PDF) in the Washington Quaterly entitled "Engaging Autocratic Allies to Promote Democracy." They discuss how, during the 1980s, US influence facilitated democratic transitions in the Philippines, South Korea, and Chile.Its an evenhanded and thoughtful piece.But I can't read it without thinking that their examples of how American diplomatic pressure, triangulation, and prudence...

That is, if we were both in the eighth grade. When it comes to manipulating network data? Not so much.You Passed 8th Grade MathCongratulations, you got 10/10 correct!Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?Filed as: geekery

So, when the Iraqis get out and vote, write a constitution, and form a functioning government it is proof that the Bush strategy is working--but if sectarian violence erupts and civil-war looms it is also proof that the Bush strategy is working. Karl Popper is turning over in his grave...Filed as: Iraq

Yesterdays Washington Post ran a guest column by Ron Asmus in which he lays out an argument for using NATO to contain Iran if it develops nuclear weapons. The plan calls for bringing Israel formally within NATO as a way of making the implicit defensive commitments the West shares with Israel more formal and therefore more credible.The column is less than impressive. The greatest problem with the piece is that Asmus manages to go the entire...