The Duck of Minerva

Kai Thaler

Kai M. Thaler is Assistant Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and in 2018-19 his is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies. He studies civil wars and violence, state building, regimes and regime change, and African and Latin American politics.

Recent Posts

Flying Blind in Crisis Time: The US Strategic and Human Foreign Policy Deficit

Flying Blind in Crisis Time: The US Strategic and Human Foreign Policy Deficit

by Kai Thaler | 28 February, 2019 | ,

This week has seen a number of key events and crises in global politics that have made crystal clear once again the careening mess that is US foreign policy under the current administration. The Trump administration has no real overarching strategy—the argument that allies in Europe and elsewhere should bear more of the costs of their defense was not articulated as part of any coherent broader vision—and gutting of the diplomatic corps has left the US devoid of expertise and key actors to confront crises when they arise. First, there were two big stories around nuclear powers this week. The...

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Aid and Diplomacy, Not Tear Gas: How to Address the Central American Migrant Crisis

Aid and Diplomacy, Not Tear Gas: How to Address the Central American Migrant Crisis

by Kai Thaler | 27 November, 2018 | , , ,

On Sunday, the US Border Patrol fired tear gas into Mexico at migrants, including children, attempting to enter the US near the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. The use of a chemical weapon banned in war against families rightly provoked widespread condemnation (Border Patrol agents also used pepper spray against migrants in 2013, fired tear gas and pepper spray into Mexico in 2007, and have killed rock throwers at the border in the past). Migrants attempting to enter the US are frustrated by the Trump administration’s restriction of the process of seeking asylum, a...

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Peacekeeping’s Perverse Effects: Bolsonaro and Brazil’s Remilitarized Politics

Peacekeeping’s Perverse Effects: Bolsonaro and Brazil’s Remilitarized Politics

by Kai Thaler | 16 October, 2018 | , , ,

In under two weeks, Brazil will have the second round of its presidential election. Former military officer and fan of fascists Jair Bolsonaro looks set after a strong first-round showing to defeat Workers’ Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad. If he wins, Bolsonaro will have strong party backing in Congress, though he does not care much for the legislature—in 1999, Bolsonaro said Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship “should have killed 30,000 people more, starting with Congress and [then-President] Fernando Henrique Cardoso.” Bolsonaro’s running mate is retired General Hamilton Mourão,...

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