The Duck of Minerva

Jon Western

Jon Western has spent the last fifteen years teaching IR in liberal arts colleges at Mount Holyoke College and the Five Colleges in western Massachusetts. He has an eclectic range of intellectual interests but often writes on international security, U.S. foreign policy, military intervention, and human rights. He occasionally shares his thoughts about professional life in liberal arts colleges. In his spare time he coaches middle school soccer, mentors the local high school robotics team, skis, and sails.

Recent Posts

Does Democracy hinder economic growth?

by Jon Western | 8 June, 2010 |

Riz Khan from Al Jazeera is asking the question today. This is always a question that triggers enormous debate among my students. Many tend to jump on the "look at China" or "look at Chile under Pinochet" bandwagon as evidence that autocratic governments are better at imposing the level of discipline necessary to trigger and sustain economic growth. Michael McFaul's new book Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We should and How We Can has an extensive overview of the literature on the question. Notwithstanding the loaded title, McFaul does concede that there is much we still don't understand in...

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Tapping into the Tea Party sentiment to close Guantanamo

by Jon Western | 7 June, 2010 |

Can't generate sufficient public support for closing Guantanamo on legal and moral grounds? The Washington Post takes another tack -- your taxpayer dollars at work. The UPI picks up the report here and I bet this will make the lead in every local and regional newspaper around the country in the morning. Among the highlights: $683k to upgrade Starbucks and $773k for interior decoration of KFC/Taco Bell. Domestic mobilization on foreign policy issues often requires a blend of interest and value-based arguments. Efforts to link Guantanamo as antithetical to American strategic interests has...

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America’s resource curse

by Jon Western | 4 May, 2010 |

With much of the country focused on the oil disaster in the Gulf, it's clear that America's energy policy is a wreck. My native state of North Dakota is booming from a major oil find. But, it too, is realizing the costs and curse of oil. The Bismarck Tribune is running an excellent series on the changing landscape of western North Dakota and worth a read.

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Anyone have any old drachmas?

by Jon Western | 29 April, 2010 |

Is this the end of the grand Eurozone experiment? I have to admit that I've had a general feeling for the past couple of months that the Germans would, in the end, cough up a bail-out package for Greece because of a sense that there is no real alternative. But, despite the fact that Angela Merkel finally appears to be asserting herself, now I'm really not sure how it will end. Rumors are swirling that Portugal and Spain will also need bailouts to meet excessive debt burdens after their debt ratings were downgraded. And, although Spain is looking more at a current liquidity problem than...

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“Step One to a messy divorce”

by Jon Western | 26 April, 2010 |

Sorry I've been out of the loop for a month or so -- I volunteered to lead a search committee for the head of a local organization and I'm just now catching my breath. (Note to self: Volunteering is really hard work and takes a ton of time...)So, I opened the New York Times this morning and notice that Africa's largest country may be on the brink of splitting apart after the country's presidential elections earlier this month. The rivals, Omar Bashir and Salva Kiir (indicted war criminal and former rebel leader respectively -- great choices) have completely consolidated their control --...

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Speaking of (half-hearted) apologies…

by Jon Western | 30 March, 2010 |

General John S. Sheehan (U.S. Marine Corps, retired) appears to have reconsidered his views on the role of gays in the Dutch military at Srebrenica. He issued a formal apology today -- but only for his inaccurate "recollection" of the views of General Henk van den Breemen, then chief of staff of the Dutch military. Apparently he still doesn't like gays....

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What’s in an apology?

by Jon Western | 30 March, 2010 |

Serbia's parliament is debating a resolution expressing sympathy for Srebrenica's victims and apologizing for not doing enough to prevent the massacre. Bosnian Muslims are not likely to be happy because the resolution does not apologize explicitly for the crime of genocide -- it only reads that it condemns the massacre as "the crime as it is described" in the European Parliament's resolution passed last year. As expected, much of the human rights community is pressing for stronger language with an explicit acknowledgment of the crime of genocide. While I am generally sympathetic with these...

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Margaret Moth

by Jon Western | 22 March, 2010 |

Margaret Moth died over the weekend after a long battle with cancer. Margaret was an incredibly talented photo-journalist who covered numerous conflicts. It was her video work, shot during the first months of the Bosnian war for CNN, that defined the war and set the standard for the way journalists -- especially camera crews -- filmed and reported the conflict. In July, 1992 she was hit and seriously wounded by a sniper's bullet on sniper alley in Sarajevo. Despite her serious injuries and the long and painful recovery that followed, she returned to work to cover the Bosnian War and other...

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Are you #^&@%! kidding me?

by Jon Western | 19 March, 2010 |

Our political discourse is seriously out of control. Retired Marine Corps General John J. Sheehan -- an ardent opponent of gays in the military -- testified before the Senate Armed Services today that the decision by the Dutch government to allow gays to serve in its military contributed to the events at Srebrenica in 1995. Apparently, the Dutch decision --and the overall "liberalization" of the Dutch military -- contributed to its "weak" combat capabilities. This is just absurd. The Dutch failure at Srebrenica is one of the most thoroughly investigated events of the past twenty years. These...

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