"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...

Bear with me. The sociogenesis of this post takes some strange twists.Scott Lemieux (of LGM fame) regularly points his readers to the latest idiocies of "political" film reviews. Today I followed his link-chain to alicublog's discussion of the par-for-the-course Mallard Fillmore "humor" about Brokeback Mountain (good film? bad film? you tell me; we have a toddler and a single income. I'm not even sure I remember what the inside of a movie...

While there is a great deal I would like to post about right now I am constrained by a paper deadline that is fast approaching (forget for the moment that it might be the worst paper I have written in years). So, until my plate is clear (approx. next Tuesday) I simply want to point out some developing stories to watch. Once the dust settles I will have lots to say about these stories. So for now....Sharon Undergoes Emergency SurgeryThe Israeli...

On September 15, 2002, when it was becoming increasingly probable that the US was gearing up to "liberate" Iraq, The Washington Post ran a front page story about the future of that state's oil. Reporters Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway noted that Iraq had the world's second largest supply of proven oil reserves (112 billion barrels), which meant that toppling Saddam Hussein "could open a bonanza for American oil companies long banished from...

ALex Motyl summarizes the answer to the debate on Crooked Timber both eloquently and effectively:The United States expanded westward in a variety of distinctly imperial ways. But by eliminating local Spanish and Indian elites, extending U.S. military, legal, and administrative organizations into the acquired territories, and populating them with nonnative settlers, American built a state and not an empire. - Revolutions, Nations, Empires, p....

A new year brings new revelations. Erich Lichtblau and James Risen of the New York Times reports:WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 - A top Justice Department official objected in 2004 to aspects of the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and refused to sign on to its continued use amid concerns about its legality and oversight, according to officials with knowledge of the tense internal debate. The concerns appear to have played a part...

Oh, goody! Another round of "is America an Empire?" in the academic blogsphere. Our path begins with Adloyda's criticism of Linda Colley's appearance on the BBC and her essay in the Guardian called "The US is now rediscovering the pitfalls of aspirational imperialism." Colley, whose book Captives : Britain, Empire, and the World, 1600-1850 is a great read, makes the standard arguments about the existence of a US informal empire created by its...

Interesting little flare up on the IR Rumor Mill "job-market discussion" thread over whether or not qualitative security scholars are "wasting their time" studying the British Emprie instead of doing work on "interesting" and "relevant" topics:I was really nonplusssed by the offerings of qualitative research in the international security pool. For God's sake, stop studying the British empire!And later:Rubbish, the post is not at all about...

Over at my blog, I've just published a followup to Bill's post last month on the William and Mary survey about the field of IR.After examining the list of the 25 most influential IR scholars in some detail, I've invited readers to answer these questions: What are the most influential IR books and articles published in the past 15 years (since 1990)? Who are the field's most important thinkers under age 50?Feel free to put answers in comments,...