John Hawkins' interview with Mark Steyn recently made the rounds at conservative and right-leaning international-relations blogs. Since I spent part of last year involved in an edited book project on religion and Europe, I thought it might be interesting to look closely at Steyn's arguments. The caveat, of course, is that my contribution involved the history of religious conflict in Europe. John Hawkins: In your opinion, why is it that Europe...

President Bush's address on Iraq made choosing today's maxim very difficult. Many of Guicciardini's maxims put a different spin on the speech, and particularly about what people are writing about its strengths and weaknesses. So, given a wealth of possibilities, I have settled on this one:If you are involved in important affairs or are seeking power, you must always hide your failures and exaggerate your successes. It is a form of swindling and...

First, the administration explained in a famous advertisement featured during the 2002 Super Bowl that buying drugs abets terrorism.Then, in 2003, Arianna Huffington's "Detroit Project" ran ads claiming that owning an SUV indirectly aids terror; buying lots of gas provides lots of cash to the Iranians and Saudis.Now, apparently, it turns out that feeding your baby fosters global terrorism. This link is explained by FBI Director Robert Mueller...

Although I've commented extensively on these issues on other people's blogs, I haven't used the Duck as a platform for weighing into the morass of the Karl Rove "evil liberals want to destroy America" or Richard Durbin "stop behaving like Nazis" speeches. The whole debate surrounding both speeches makes me angry. When I get angry I mouth off. The result is neither lucid nor illuminating discussion, on my part, of issues relevant to...

I'm slated to teach International security this fall for the first time in a couple of years and have been thinking about what to cover. It is a broad topic, of course, and people have all sorts of perspectives. Especially prior to the "war on terror," there was a vast literature developing on environmental security, human security, food security, etc.To a large extent, post 9/11 and war in Iraq, the field has returned to its fascination with...

I don't agree with Rodger that the Iraq War was totally unjustifiable. Rodger and I do, presumably, agree that the Bush administration's marketing of the war was marked by "threat inflation" at best, and outright deceit at worst.I am certain, however, that we agree that they've done a terrible job - from day one - of actually waging warfare in Mesopotamia. Indeed, even most of my pro-war friends and colleagues have been shocked at the gross...

There's another mention of "dog-whistle politics" over at Political Wire. Taegan Goddard quotes from a recent Congressional Quarterly article by Craig Crawford:Dean and Durbin were trying to rally their faithful with the harsh, red-meat language that partisans enjoy, but they have a lot to learn about how to deploy the stiletto instead of the assault rifle.One reason Republicans keep Democrats on the defensive is how effectively they speak to...

Earlier this week, the British government released data showing that the royal family costs each taxpayer just 61 pence ($1.12) per year. This was down £100,000 from last year, and is almost 60% less than the cost in 1991-92.Apparently, Princess Di had expensive tastes. The chief British government accountant put recent thrift in perspective for Reuters:"We believe this represents a value-for-money monarchy," said Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy...

Found in the May 26, 2005 personals section of the New York Review of Books:WOMAN would like to meet men born in 1940, preferably on November 9 or 10.The word "preferably" causes problems, I think, for the obvious hypotheses.

Well, the news is a flutter with talk of a new "Asian Invasion". The Chinese state-owned CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) has made an unsolicitated offer for the US-based UNOCAL which trumps the current offer by Chevron. This bid follows hot on the heals of the acquisition of IBM's perosnal computer arm by the Lenova Group as well as another bid for an American company, this time Maytag, by the China-based Haier. One cannot help...

By now you all probably know that Ahmadinejad handily won the election in Iran:Ultra-conservative Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad swept to a landslide win in presidential elections on Saturday, spelling a possible end to Iran's fragile social reforms and tentative rapprochement with the West.Ahmadinejad, 48, received the backing of the religious poor to defeat moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was supported by pro-reform parties...

I'm tied up with an article I have under "revise-and-resubmit"; the other members of the Duck are similarly preoccupied. We'll all be posting again shortly. Patrick, for example, has promised a post on American exceptionalism that will provide some perspective on the debate kicked off the Trumanites. He's something of an expert on the subject, so it should be worth the wait. 'Nuff said