The Duck of Minerva

Jarrod Hayes

Jarrod Hayes is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. His research interests include the IR theory, social construction of threat, societal mechanisms of security within democracies, and the social construction of environmental problems. His first book Constructing National Security: US Relations with India and China was published in 2013 by Cambridge University Press and his second, an edited volume entitled Constructivism Reconsidered, was published by University of Michigan Press 2018. He has published articles in numerous scholarly journals including European Journal of International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Global Environmental Politics, International Affairs, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Nonproliferation Review, and Security Studies.

Recent Posts

Unreal climate ‘realism’

Unreal climate ‘realism’

by Jarrod Hayes | 8 April, 2025 | ,

It’s hard to keep track of the problems confronting Americans these days. But, just in case a reminder is needed, climate change is still a thing. Casual observers may have noted that US climate policy has been…underwhelming, see-sawing between ‘Build Back Better’ aspirations and climate denialism. Now climate policy wunderkind Varun Sivaram has called for a rethink on US climate (foreign) policy. Noting the overall failure of US climate policy, Sivaram calls for ‘climate realism’. Claiming that “the very fact that climate has no political staying power is an indictment of the policy...

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Climate, Justice, and IR

Does IR Do Big Questions? Should It?

by Jarrod Hayes | 23 November, 2022 | ,

Jarrod is joined by Daniela Lai (Royal Holloway) and Adam to talk about the role of big questions in IR scholarship and teaching. The trio engage recent tweets by Bear Braumoeller and Tom Nichols (the latter of which Peter also addresses in a post) as they discuss the place of big questions in teaching and research. https://duckofminerva.podbean.com/e/does-ir-ask-big-questions/

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Stop the party: Turkey as an obstacle to Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO

Stop the party: Turkey as an obstacle to Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO

by Jarrod Hayes | 23 May, 2022 | , ,

Jarrod talks with Lisel Hintz of Johns Hopkins University and Sibel Oktay of the University of Illinois, Springfield and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs about the complex history of Turkey in NATO as well as the domestic and intralliance sources of Turkey's current resistance to Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO.  https://duckofminerva.podbean.com/e/stop-the-partyturkey-as-an-obstacle-to-finnish-and-swedish-accession-to-nato/

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Climate, Justice, and IR

Duckcalls podcast: Zeitenwende? German foreign policy after Ukraine

by Jarrod Hayes | 10 May, 2022 | , ,

Jarrod talks with Georg Löfflmann (University of Warwick) and Frank Stengel  (Kiel University) about the changes in German foreign policy in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in particular, about the idea that Germany is experiencing a watershed moment. https://duckofminerva.podbean.com/e/duck-events-podcast-zeitenwende-german-foreign-policy-after-ukraine/

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9/11 remembrance and the stories we tell

9/11 remembrance and the stories we tell

by Jarrod Hayes | 12 September, 2021 | , ,

Taking my children to their dance class yesterday morning in Quincy, MA I found, as the traffic ground to a halt, the town center draped in red, white, and blue bunting. A giant flag hung suspended from two cranes. A parade, I was told, was in the offing. To anyone not looking at a calendar the scene would easily be confused for the celebration of America’s national day on the Fourth of July. But whereas July Fourth marks an event of success—national self-determination—yesterday marks a day of loss. But also failure. Failure of Americans and their policymakers in the run up to the September...

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