The Duck of Minerva

Adrienne LeBas

Recent Posts

APSA & African Politics

by Adrienne LeBas | 14 June, 2013 |

For those of you who don't monitor the front page of the APSA website on a daily basis, you may have missed the online petition for the recognition of a new African Politics section of APSA.  I urge all of you -- including those who don't work in Africa -- to take a look at the petition and consider signing. At first glance, this may seem a strange throw-back: area studies has been passé in political science for some time, and it has become typical for Africa-focused job candidates to stress that they are "general comparativists who just happen to work in Africa" (ditto on book marketing). *...

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Kenya: Can Technology Safeguard Elections?

by Adrienne LeBas | 5 March, 2013 |

Polls in Kenya closed 16 hours ago, but votes continue to be counted.  Those familiar with Kenya and with the electoral crisis of 2007-2008 will know to distrust provisional results.  In December 2007, challenger Raila Odinga seemed substantially ahead during much of the early voting, only to see that lead evaporate as returns came in from more remote districts. Despite this qualification, it does look increasingly likely that Uhuru Kenyatta will gain the presidency in the first round of voting.*  In the past two weeks, there was some speculation that Kenyatta might struggle to meet new...

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Call for papers: European Consortium on Political Research, Sept 4-7

by Adrienne LeBas | 29 January, 2013 |

In case folks have missed it, there is an upcoming deadline (FRIDAY!) for the 2013 ECPR General Conference in Bordeaux, September 4-7th.  Unlike many other conferences, EPCR paper proposals are submitted to already-organized panels. This often results in more cohesive panels and, one hopes, more helpful feedback.  Paper proposals are due this coming Friday and can be submitted through the various organized sections listed here.  ... And the conference is in Bordeaux, which is lovely and features nifty, futuristic trams built by Alain Juppé (pre-scandal). For those of you who work on...

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Magical Thinking in the Sahel

by Adrienne LeBas | 16 January, 2013 |

This time last week, international intervention plans in Mali consisted of a rather under-powered African (ECOWAS) force, which was expected to arrive no earlier than September.  This force was not backed by overpowering consensus. Nigeria and Mauritania, the two best-equipped militaries in the region, were reluctant to pledge serious troops. The United States insisted that free and fair presidential elections must precede any international intervention, even after a December coup rendered this unrealistic.  And the Malian government itself seemed an obstacle.  The December coup signaled the...

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NYE Links

by Adrienne LeBas | 31 December, 2012 |

Happy New Year to all.  While you’re sticking the bubbly in the fridge and mapping out 2013 resolutions, consider nominating your favorite blogs for the 2013 OAIS awards sponsored by the Duck.  Tomorrow is the deadline for nominations.  See Dan’s last update on current nominees for more information. The heavy bias toward counterinsurgency links in today’s post is entirely unintentional.  Blame the feelings of impending doom sweeping through the DC streets.  For things you might actually want to read on NYE, skip to the end. The looming fiscal cliff dominates the day’s news.   Luckily, the...

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Wednesday Mid-day Linkage

by Adrienne LeBas | 5 December, 2012 |

Ghana votes.  Egyptian protesters move from Tahrir to the presidential palace. Rio's Olympics clean-up uncovers policemen collaborating with drug cartels. Chronicle of Higher Education visualization of gender and publication records across disciplines and over time.  Political science not doing so well. For those interested in civilian casualties and war, Chinamanda Adichie has written a moving and very informative review of Chinua Achebe's controversial new book on Biafra. Jim Scott has a farm.  Chris Blattman reads Scott's new book and says that the biggest problem with international...

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Men with Guns (Goma)

by Adrienne LeBas | 21 November, 2012 |

First off, this is my first post.  Thanks to Dan and the rest of the crowd for inviting me, though I fear they – and Duck readers – may soon tire of hearing about how building effective control over a given territory is just really damn hard.  But, then again, why else would one invite an Africanist comparativist to hang out on an IR blog? So Goma fell to rebels yesterday.  In the midst of war in Gaza, the loss of the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo didn’t make it onto All Things Considered, merited a few sentences on Newshour, and, so far as I’ve heard from others,...

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