The Return of Morning Linkage

27 July 2012, 1421 EDT

The fighting in Khorog is very serious. As Eurasianet notes, “The fighting in Gorno-Badakhshan province (GBAO) is being described as the worst in Tajikistan since the 1990s civil war and raises concerns of a protracted new conflict.” The government has cut off communications into the region. The Wall Street Journal has an overview. Suzanne Levi-Sanchez reproduces a letter from a close friend of hers in Khorog.
Reuters reports on the “Secret Turkish Nerve Center” coordinating aid from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to the Syrian rebels.
Mark Hibbs on the “Taiwan and the [US bilateral nuclear agreements] Gold Standard.”
Charles Cameron on the Temple Mount as the “Most Contested Piece of Real-Estate on Earth.” Both Ron Hassner and Stacie Goddard have written some pretty important books on the subject.
Steve Saideman argues that comparing Star Trek and Babylon 5 illustrates changing understandings of ethnic conflict. Question: does it matter that “Let that be Your Last Battlefield” is about American race relations?
Writing of revisiting science fiction, Tor.com has branched out from Star Trek and is now doing a number of “re-watch” series (Buffy, Farscape, etc.) in addition to their re-reads of classics new and old.
Adam Elkus has a great post on collateral damage and superheroes.
Charles Stross asks his readers to weigh in on what the world will look like in 2030. Three hundred and eighty comments result.
Jeff A. Larson on People Power: The Video Game.

Dan Nexon

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

1 Comment

Stephen Saideman on 27 July 2012 at 14.45 EDT

The funny thing, Dan, is that the ST episode was made in the last season–almost certainly after the death of Martin Luther King. It contains a key contrast: the undying hatred of the aliens and the incredulity of the Enterprise crew who could not get the idea that race would lead to hatred. So, yes, entirely about US race relations in 1968-69 BUT also a very nice depiction of how modern media and populace think about places like Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan, etc. Oh and Robert Kaplan.

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The Return of Morning Linkage

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Dan Nexon

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