Many critics of the Bush administration -- including those on the left -- have often over the past three years complained that the U.S. was focusing on the wrong state in the war on terrorism. Iran sponsors terrorists (especially Hamas) and pursues WMD. The evidence is arguably much, much clearer than it was with Iraq. Setting aside the question of sanctions for a moment, which are quite problematic given the west's great need for imported oil,...

Over at my blog, I've written a lengthy post on "'Pro-war' Democrats and the 2006 Elections." Since it is about the likely role of Iraq in the congressional midterm elections, it is probably suitable for the Duck. However, I'm resolved in 2006 to generate unique content for each space and to avoid excessive duplication by cross-posting.Click the post title, read, and comment.I'll have something for this space soon.Put "after the fold" in...

Rob over at LGM has a great post in which he cogently makes the case for why the Iraq War is now screwing up our ability to effectively deal with Tehran. Besides removing an obvious security concern from Iran's western front and providing Iran with 110,000 "hostages" in the form of US troops right next store (not to mention the ability to threaten to or actually destablize Iraq domestically), Rob touches on one issue that I find particularly...

[Updated at 2:09pm]One of the biggest stories of late is the escalating nuclear standoff between Iran and the West. There is great speculation that many of the most important parties (e.g. Russia and the EU3) are now ready to refer the matter to the UN Security Council (UNSC). Other parties, such as China, may not be ready to sign on to sanctions but are becoming increasingly aware that this problem is not going away. The five permanent members...

A great many right-wing blogs advance a strange interpretation of the latest developments in Iran's apparent quest for nuclear weapons: the current failures of European-Iranian negotiations provide more evidence that Europeans are soft, ineffectual, and otherwise feminized.What are the problems with the argument?1. It ignores the obvious comparison between Iran and North Korea. The Europeans haven't convinced Iran to drop its nuclear program,...

After I posted "Isn't this what friends are for?" Wednesday, I received an email from Kevin Anderson of the BBC News radio program, "World Have Your Say." Kevin wanted me to partake in a discussion about Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster's critique of the US army in Iraq -- live Thursday (about 1:30 pm ET, early evening in the UK). Unfortunately, he wrote only a few hours before the broadcast and I read it only half an hour or so in advance.I...

A few preliminary thoughts on Rodger's discussion of the "communicative turn" in international-relations theory.The "communicative" and "linguistic" turns both occupy a great deal of attention in contemporary constructivist scholarship. One question that immediately arises is whether these are different words for the same underlying sets of arguments. The answer? It depends.Advocates of the communicative turn share a belief that "words matter"...

At least that's my impression - and that of others as well - of some recent attempts to prove that the Bush administration was right about the relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda.I'm impressed, as always, by Dan Darling's skill at connecting dots... but less so by his implication that the alleged relationships are transitive.Filed as: terrorism and terrorist networks

"Marginalia and Other Crimes": a Cambridge University Library exhibit on the many, many - and rather varied - sins inflicted by their patrons against posterity. Hat tip: Jasper Milvain (writing in a Crooked Timber comment thread on the dangers of using post-it notes on library books).

You know you're in a "special relationship" when your partner feels free to offer frank criticism.As reported in today's Washington Post, the Bush administration has now found that out: A senior British officer has written a scathing critique of the U.S. Army and its performance in Iraq, accusing it of cultural ignorance, moralistic self-righteousness, unproductive micromanagement and unwarranted optimism there.British Brigadier Nigel...

The new academic year is underway and it is time to start thinking more seriously about a paper I've promised for the International Studies Association annual meeting in San Diego in March. Warning: that is a large pdf.I'm returning to a topic I explored a few years ago -- the role of "framing" in global debates about norms, policies and ideas. The panel proposal had to be in by June 1, so my paper was partly motivated by something I blogged...

Because I remain outraged, and because many of my smarter conservative blogfriends don't see the problem yet.1. The leftcoaster has a FAQ, of sorts, on Republican talking points concerning Bush's FISA violations (va LGM).2. Glenn Greenwald's posts on FISA remain some of the clearest on the subject. In a recent entry, he eviscerates some of the key claims made by Bush administration defenders, the attacks against the New York Times, and other...