The Duck of Minerva

  Elvis Duck because I'll be drinking Bourbon in Memphis tomorrow night. Julien Barnes-Dacey and Daniel Levy want de-escalation, not more arms for Syria Unintended consequences? The Syrian conflict has been good for American-Turkish relations. An "ancient" U.S. weapon makes an appearance in Syrian fighting:  the M40. A new Gallup Poll:  64% of Americans say the US shouldn't use military force in Syria if diplomatic efforts fail to end the conflict.  Oops.  John McCain posed for a nice picture....with Syrian rebels accused of kidnapping Lebanese Shiites. ht: Taylor Marvin. Sven Biscop...

  More of the same with the Syrian opposition. Will H. Moore really takes issue with Jonathan Panikoff on how to think about what comes next in Syria. Visualizing the Syrian conflict with the new GDELT event data set.  GDELT is about to go live (in the next couple of days or week) with daily updates on Syria. Meanwhile, Jay Ulfelder roadtests GDELT as a resource for monitoring atrocities. Roland Paris on What Went Wrong in Afghanistan. Seven lessons for the next time we end up in a small war.  Call me a skeptic. Joshua Keating asks what Chaos Theory can tell us about IR. and......

Syttende mai! Remembering Kenneth Waltz Erica Chenoweth and Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham put together a special issue of the Journal of Peace Research on nonviolence. (Free access through July 31). A New Deal for Fragile States:  spoiler alert -- national leadership and ownership of agendas are key. In other IRS news -- don't F@#$ with adjuncts... 3-d printable drones in our future? Meanwhile, back in Syria: Could things get any worse? Michael Walzer sees dithering in Syria as an entirely rational response. Is the town of Qusayr next? Jon Lee Anderson on videos of atrocities in war. and.......

  More on the question of Red Lines.  I asked so what?  John Mueller wants them erased.  Malfrid Braut-Hegghammar wants them enforced. Must read from Dexter Filkins on Obama administration's thinking on Syria . Tom Ricks sees some wisdom in the lessons from Iraq on Syria. Steve Walt applauds the administration's buck passing. Zbigniew Brzezinski argues intervention will make things worse. Daniel Serwer on how Syria is affecting Iraq. Colin Kahl and Marc Lynch look toward "progressive engagement" after the Arab uprisings. Seeing the glass half-full in Pakistan. and.... Given the...

  Red lines or red lights on Syria?  It's not just about Syria. What if the Tsarnaevs had been shooters instead of bombers? Playing out academic feuds in the press...Reinhart and Rogoff respond. Fodder for PTJ:  What do scientifc studies tell us? Very persuasive:  I spent three hours yesterday on the tarmac at O'Hare delayed by an FAA furlough hold as a result of sequestration -- passed the time reading Mark Blyth's Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea -- scathing rebuke of neoliberalism. If you are keeping score, Spain's unemployment just topped 27% -- 6 million -- with more...

ISA News:  Congratulations to Dan and Patrick!  They will be involved with ISQ -- ISA's flagship publication for the next five years.  Dan has been selected as the lead editor, Patrick as the web editor.   Congrats! I'm not a fan of the new grading software technologies, but maybe I can be persuaded -- grading while at ISA does suck. Already?  Minerva (note: not Duck of) a threat to MOOCs. We have an answer to the universe?   It's all code?  Cool. The decline in critical thinking in the US is becoming a national security concern. Can we securitize the liberal arts? Barbara Walter, Daniel...

Joshua Goldstein and I look at R2P After Syria. But, what will Syria look like after Syria? And, what exactly is the Obama administration doing there?  Training and arming the rebels covertly but not with non-lethal military aid -- body armor and night vision. UN arms treaty blocked by Iran, North Korea, and Syria.  Go figure. Title is misleading, but this is comprehensive look at Afghanistan -- will likely be at war long after 2014. Current Intelligence has a nice feature from Clive Schofield dissecting the myths and realities of Arctic competition. Bringing sabermetrics and moneyball to...