In an effort to change the conversation from the Duck's current all-Jobs all the time format, let me simply commend Jorge Cham, the creator of Ph.D. Comics, and the rest of his crew for the Ph.D. Comics movie, which manages to be everything that a satisfying break...
Numerous updates below the fold.The AP quotes Bush's address on the foiled airline bombing plot:"This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love...
LGM has been doing the important work that I might be tackling if I weren't in the middle of moving: taking on the "ghosts of 1972" interpretation of Lamont's victory over Lieberman. Scott tackles...
Students in my Intro to IR Research and World Politics classes have, on occasion, heard me rant about Wikipedia and how it is not an appropriate research source for writing papers. While useful for...
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 international politics.Indeed, many other (and smarter) people have examined problems with Rove's claims and the Republican party's defense of them. Clearly,...
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 guns and bombs.On that note, here's something interesting from the Washington Post, March 26, 2005 (p. D12), that I missed when it ran originally:...
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 incompetence of the administration when it comes to the invasion and occupation.Thus, although I'm not some hard-core anti-war type, I simply can't agree...
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 their partisan ideologues and still manage to avoid a backlash from moderates. Speaking in words that the faithful understand — while sounding...
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 Purse, who looks after the queen's finances.We're not looking to provide the cheapest monarchy. We're looking at one of good value and good...
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 but see parallels (state-led--or state-'influenced'--industrial policy combined with cheap financing) between this incarnation of the Asian Invasion...
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 and wealthy Iranians fearful of a hardline monopoly on power in the Islamic state."The figures show that Ahmadinejad is the winner," Interior Ministry...