Charli Carpenter

Uniting for Peace in Syria: Radical Move or Modest Proposal?

by Charli Carpenter | 2 May, 2017 | Human Rights, Security

This is a guest post by Betcy Jose, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Colorado-Denver and Lucy McGuffey, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at University of Colorado-Denver. In season 3 of House of Cards, the US Ambassador to the UN introduces a “Uniting for Peace” resolution in the General Assembly to deploy peacekeepers to the Jordan Valley, bypassing a Russian Security Council veto on a similar measure. The Russian Ambassador’s response? “Going around the Security Council is a radical move.” Could the UN consider such a “radical” move to...

We Have Studied the World. President Trump Should Too.

by Charli Carpenter | 24 February, 2017 | Academia, US Foreign Policy

This is an open letter signed by US international affairs scholars to their fellow citizens. If you hold a PhD in international relations or an extant field and wish to add your name to the list, please tweet #StudytheWorld with your name and institutional affiliation or send this information in an email to ir.scholars.openletter@gmail.com. Dear Fellow Americans, Recently, President Trump tweeted that people should “Study the world!” to understand his foreign policy. As scholars of international relations, we have studied the world, and we are concerned that the actions of the President...

International Affairs Scholars Talk Back to Trump at #Duckies2017

by Charli Carpenter | 23 February, 2017 | Academia, US Foreign Policy

Trump told us we should study the world. IR scholars had something to say about that. Earlier I promised to turn some of these quips into a special blog post, which also happens to be my Ignite talk at this year's Duckies' Awards in Baltimore. Happy #ISA2017.

Trump Wants People to “Study the World!” IR Scholars Can Jump All over This.

by Charli Carpenter | 9 February, 2017 | Academia, US Foreign Policy

"Study the world!" brayed Trump on Twitter last week, in defense of his travel ban. Dan Drezner, who studies the world for a living, shot back: "I have studied it, and I can tell you with some certainty that your words and actions have harmed US national security." On Facebook, I've seen friends and colleagues with PhDs in international relations post their own versions of Dan's tweet: Andrew Moravcsik: "I have studied the world, and people who say they are going to change history generally repeat it." Richard Price: "Those who seek power by dividing ultimately succumb to those who unite to...

Congress is Trying to Remove Bannon from the National Security Council. Here’s Why It Matters.

by Charli Carpenter | 7 February, 2017 | Featured

While national security lawyers argue over whether Steve Bannon's appointment to the National Security Council is legal or not, members of Congress are pushing back to close whatever statutory loophole even might render legal what is clearly a violation of long-standing national security norms. In one of last week's most under-reported stories in the major press, bills were introduced into both the House of Representatives and the US Senate this past week, each designed to clarify the composition of the NSC and Principals Committee, ensure Senate oversight over appointments, and, in the case...

Does Bannon’s Appointment to the NSC/PC Require Senate Confirmation? Perhaps A Judge Should Decide.

by Charli Carpenter | 6 February, 2017 | US Foreign Policy

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen published an op-ed in today's New York Times calling for the removal of Steve Bannon from the National Security Council Principals Committee, a position he apparently obtained without Trump being fully briefed. According to Mullen: "Having Mr. Bannon as a voting member of the Principals Committee will have a negative influence on what is supposed to be a candid, nonpartisan deliberation. I fear that it will have a chilling effect on deliberations and, potentially diminish the authority and prerogatives to which Senate-confirmed Cabinet officials are...

Travel Ban Lifted in Early Victory for Non-Violent-Resistance to Trump

by Charli Carpenter | 4 February, 2017 | US Foreign Policy

My colleague Erica Chenoweth has a great article in The Guardian today on the power of non-violent resistance: Many people across the United States are despondent about the new president – and the threat to democracy his rise could represent. But they shouldn’t be. At no time in recorded history have people been more equipped to effectively resist injustice using civil resistance... Historical studies suggest that it takes 3.5% of a population engaged in sustained nonviolent resistance to topple brutal dictatorships. If that can be true in Chile under Gen Pinochet and Serbia under Milosevic,...

Scientists Will March on Washington on April, 22. International Relations Scholars Should Join Them.

by Charli Carpenter | 3 February, 2017 | Environment & Energy, US Foreign Policy

As became clear earlier this week in the discussion around how academic associations should respond to Trump's travel ban in organizing their annual meetings, President Trump's policy does not only affect national and religious minorities; it does not only affect scientists from Muslim-majority countries. In the case of the travel ban, it is also an existential attack on scientific inquiry - inhibiting scholarly collaboration and exchange on which all scientists rely. Excluding individuals from freedom to share scientific ideas based on their nationality or faith from is discriminatory and...

ISA Takes Strong Stand for Academic Freedom

by Charli Carpenter | 31 January, 2017 | Academia

In a letter released today, the International Studies Association has taken a strong stand against Trump's Executive Order closing US borders to nationals of several Muslim-majority states: As a scholarly organization, ISA has a professional obligation to promote and protect the values of academic freedom. As such, the ISA strongly condemns any action by any government which prevents the free movement of scholars engaged in research on international affairs, or any other scholarly discipline. Indeed, the charter of the Academic Freedom Committee of the ISA includes the following language:...

How Should the International Studies Association Protect Its International Members?

by Charli Carpenter | 30 January, 2017 | Academia

I have been waiting the for the past few days to see how the International Studies Association would respond to news of Trump's Executive order banning entry into the US has for many travelers, including those from a number of Muslim countries - since this ban obviously affects numerous of our colleagues who are, like many of us, slated to travel to the International Studies Association Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Would the ISA issue a condemnation of this policy? I wondered. Would they offer support and reassurance to colleagues trapped outside US borders? Would they announce...

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