In reaction to Charli's provocative February 20 post on the constructivist peace, I left a number of questions in comments. Since more people read the blog than read the comments, I thought it was worthwhile to put them on the front page as a separate post. Thus, if you are interested, click through. I've added a few pertinent links as well to create added value for people who already read the original comments.I'm not familiar with the specific studies noted in Charli's post, but do wonder about the scope and interpretation of the data -- especially in regard to the "abusers' peace." 1....

 This is what I'm talking about:City University London's Centre for Information Leadership is hosting this free symposium to bring together academics and practitioners from across industry to tackle the challenges posed by "big data" - the growing amount of information that needs to be stored, searched, analysed and visualised in the digital age.The event aims to begin a dialogue across traditionally-siloed sectors, reflecting the fact that a wide range of organisations and individuals are struggling to cope with the explosion of data brought about by new technologies - from smart meters in...

I'm going to delve clumsily into IR Theory here, so I'd be grateful to get some feedback on the question of the 'Realist' minimum.In a fascinating post recently on US-China relations, Stephen Walt wrote:"First, as a good realist, I think that the basic state of Sino-American relations will be driven more by balances of power and configurations of interest than by the personalities of individual leaders. As I've noted before, if China continues to grow more powerful, Bejing and Washington will view each other with an increasingly wary eye and are likely to find more issues about which to...

In a reflective post not long ago, Robert E. Kelly noted:"...we are elated that the Libya operation worked, (against all odds given the Iraq experience and what we know about foreign intervention in LDCs generally). Lots of Duck writers supported the intervention. (I found Jon Western’s arguments last spring particularly persuasive; some of my writing on Libya is here and here.) Even if you didn’t support it, and worried that it meant more ‘empire,’ it still tugged at your heartstrings to see Libyans fighting and dying against a nasty tyrant. So you probably supported the NATO intervention...

Social/Science/Fiction preliminary course outlineSIS-419.B01, Summer session 2012Professor Patrick Thaddeus JacksonThis course will meet Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00pm-4:10pm, from 21 May until 28 June, excluding the Memorial Day holiday on 28 May.Course Objective and DescriptionSocial science has the explanation of society as its explicit goal. Social scientists often try to achieve this goal by studying historical situations in order to elucidate the impact of various factors on outcomes, in the hopes that those impacts can then be extrapolated to other cases. Authors of science fiction...

Even Brian Fratbun will have to admit this is pretty brilliant!More on the most anticipated Super Bowl Commercials of 2012.

I apologize to Duck readers for being such a slacker this past semester. Some things on the home/work front have had me tied down a bit, and the truth is I won't be fully back in the saddle until after this manuscript is done. But. In the words of George R. R. Martin, fire cannot kill a dragon, and my Chinese New Years' Resolution is to start posting again (at least semi-regularly) despite all. So what have I missed the chance to gripe about during my quasi-hiatus? Great snakes, we are apparently one minute closer to our doom! Besides the collapse of Obama's nuclear non-proliferation agenda,...

Hey, don't say Lord Eddard didn't warn us...