The US Quadrennial Defense Review is finally out (only a year late, but who's counting).Some of the highlights include a shift in the "two-war doctrine"--which envisioned the US being able to battle in two seperate wars with the option of regime change in one--so that one of the major conflicts can be a protracted war against an insurgency. The document also argues that the composition of US forces must shift, incorporating larger numbers...

The world inched closer to confrontation with Iran today, but it is not yet clear what will happen next. One huge problem for security analysts is the question of Iran's motives. Would Iranian want to pass a bomb to terrorists, use one or more against great powers, or perhaps versus Israel? Patrick has argued in an academic work with Ronald Krebs that scholars, at least, cannot discern states' motives. He notes that Hans Morgenthau agreed with...

[Hat tip here to Dan Nexon and the discussion going on at Crooked Timber]Does projecting the image that one is irrational actually confer that person with an advantage in bargaining situations, specifically when nuclear weapons are involved? This seems to be the question taken up by Lee Harris over at Tech Central Station, to which he answers "yes" (Glenn Reynolds provides the pom-poms, imploring the US to do this more often).Harris is...

I'm in Tampere, Finland, at a conference on the idea of a 'post-Western West' sponsored by some European colleagues. I must admit that it's extremely refreshing to be the only American -- and in particular the only American academic -- in the room, both because among Americans there's a shared political context that I rather easily get darn tired of talking about (war in Iraq, Patriot Act, terrorism, yada yada yada) and because among American...

I can't believe it, but I'm actually linking to a post from Daily Kos. One of their regular posters, georgia10, calls attention to something that's been bugging me ever since information about the illegal NSA wiretapping program began to surface. At first glance, doesn't it seem a bit like the Total Information Awareness program that Congress pulled the plug on back in 2003?On January 16, 2003, Senator Feingold introduced S. 188, the...

Hamas offers Israel an olive branch shaped like a scimitar.We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist state that was established on our land," Meshaal, the Damascus-based head of the political and military wings of the militant Islamic group, wrote in a column titled "To whom it may concern," published in al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper.Hamas leaders have said they might heed a truce with Israel as an interim measure that could include...

From the "galactic politics" department:At the edge of solar system, a 10th planet may lurkWith a title like that, how can you resist? Especially since it provides a convenient occasion to clarify some persistent ambiguities in the notion of "social construction." Ian Hacking has already done this quite brilliantly, but I think that point is important enough to repeat it in a different context: 'the solar system' is a construct, a human...

If anyone still needed any evidence that political speech -- public rhetoric intended to legitimate certain courses of actions while ruling out others -- is governed by the demands of social sustainability rather than by the demands of logic, they need look no further than President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday evening. My favorite howler in the speech came near the end, when Bush called for determined commitment by suggesting that...

...20! AB takes the title with a bid of 19. What I find most interesting about the speech is not the number of references to terror (I actually thought it would be a bit higher), but this new reference to the President's critics as "isolationists". Suzzane Nossel has it right when she remarks that this is "pure hogwash" and a "strawman".Clearly the administration is trying to propogate a new frame for their opponents--a clever strategy....

Like Bill, I'm willing to speculate about the content of tonight's "State of the Union" address. However, allow me to guess about what won't be discussed. I'm willing to conjecture that President Bush will ignore a globally crucial issue that close ally Tony Blair considers one of his "top priorities." Monday, the British government released Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, a book outlining the official findings from the Avoiding Dangerous...

Thought we could all have a little fun with the State of the Union tonight. Let's try to guess how many times the President uses a derivative of the word terror (the word itself or words using the root 'terror' must be uttered--implicit remarks do not count). I have listed the tally for the last five SOU below.2001-1 (technically, just an Address of Congress as Rodger points out)2002-372003-232004-212005-28I will start the bidding at 25 (NSA...

It is being reported that the US has secured the consent of all five permanent members of the Security Council to submit the case of Iran for the body's review. However, the US did not secure a Security Council "referal"--which would have given the body domain over the issue--but instead managed to get the findings of the emergency meeting of the IAEA "reported" to the body. Not only that, but the matter will not be taken up by the body until...