Peter

Still Soveriegn After All These Years

by Peter | 12 June, 2008 |

Madeline Albright's op-ed in the NYT yesterday bemoans the fact thatthe concept of national sovereignty as an inviolable and overriding principle of global law is once again gaining ground.I think she doth protest too much, as the claims of sovereignty's demise seem to have been slightly exaggerated.Albright, of course is thinking back to the heady days when she was Secretary of State, when the international community would recognize a responsibility to override sovereignty in emergency situations — to prevent ethnic cleansing or genocide, arrest war criminals, restore democracy or provide...

B-2 Crash

by Peter | 9 June, 2008 |

A little water, and $1.4 billion goes up in flames...via Rob at LGM

(Air) Forced Out

by Peter | 6 June, 2008 |

SecDef Gates fired both the military and civilian head of the Air Force yesterday. The official reason was the release of a report on the mis-handling of nuclear weapons, though Danger Room suggests that this was merely the culmination of a number of issues that left Gates rather upset with the Air Force. (blog link round up of additional good coverage: here, here, and here).This is a rather big deal. As a number of observers have pointed out, this is the first time that both the military and civilian head of an armed service have been sacked at the same time. It sends a very strong signal...

Being there

by Peter | 2 June, 2008 |

In the latest incarnation of the Iraq war issue in the general election, John McCain is criticizing Barak Obama because Obama hasn’t been to Iraq in some time, and therefore, he’s not qualified to comment on Iraq policy because he hasn’t “been there” to “see it for himself.”Rhetorically, it’s a slick move by McCain. Take a widely perceived negative, his support of the war, and turn it into a positive by emphasizing experience and criticizing Obama’s capacity for sound judgment. There was some press speculation that Obama might now need to visit Iraq as a candidate to blunt this line of...

Why we do Social Science the way we do

by Peter | 26 May, 2008 |

Some of us here at the Duck would put ourselves into the "relational" camp when it comes to how we approach Social Science. Among other things, this approach looks at social and political actors based on their relations to other actors and position within a social network rather than as autonomous entities. Dan's work, for example, has made excellent use of social network theory to talk about empires and such.Today's Washington Post points out thata growing body of evidence is suggesting that traditional social networks play a surprisingly powerful and underrecognized role in influencing how...

Election Fun

by Peter | 24 May, 2008 |

NY Times: "Worries in G.O.P. About Disarray in McCain Camp"Politico.com: "GOP strategists mull McCain ‘blowout’" (as in he blows Obama out of the water in a huge win by like 50-100 electoral votes)So, which is it? Good year for McCain or good year for Obama?

Foreign Policy and Presidential Elections: Appeasement Part Deux

by Peter | 21 May, 2008 |

How do electoral politics influence US foreign policy? Look no farther than Miami Dade County and US relations with Cuba. Cuban-Americans remain a highly mobilized electoral block in that state's largest county, and they tend to be single-issue voters, supporting the candidate who is tough on Fidel's Cuba. So, you have a history of candidates talking about the need to crack down on Castro to curry favor in the Cuban community and put Florida in play. Do a few hundred more votes in Florida really matter? Well, since 2000, making this point is like shooting fish in a barrel. Recall that...

You Can’t Appease Chris Matthews

by Peter | 18 May, 2008 |

If you haven’t heard about or seen the clip of Chris Matthews dressing down one of his guests, a conservative talk show host, you might wan to take a look. Aside from the sheer entertainment value of the thing, it might, maybe, be a turning point for the fall election.Matthews was in his regular Hardball segment where they have a conservative and a liberal radio talk show host to spin the issue of the day. They were discussing the Foreign Policy back and forth between Bush and Obama. The conservative guest launched into Obama as soon as Matthews started the segment, talking about how Obama...

SecDef to Military: Buy weapons you can use

by Peter | 13 May, 2008 |

In a clear case of what would be called stating the obvious if it were said by the leader of any other organization other than the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued a clear warning to the military and its industrial partners on Tuesday that expensive, new conventional weapons must prove their value to current conflicts, marked by insurgency and terrorism, if they hope for a place in future budgets.because the headline "Gates Wants Weapons Useful in Current Conflicts" sure sounds obvious to me.More Gates:“I have noticed too much of a tendency towards what might be called...

Why not invade Burma?

by Peter | 11 May, 2008 |

With the unfolding of the humanitarian tragedy in Burma following the cyclone, people are once again (re)learning how awful that regime is (by one popular account, the 3rd worst dictatorship in the world—don’t laugh, even Drezner loves the list).Back in The Day, when the Axis of Evil (you remember that—Iran, Iraq, North Korea) came out, I used to go through a little exercise with my students called what makes a country Evil? In particular, I would ask them why not include Burma on the list? An “evil” regime by all accounts that is certainly not friendly to the US, but it gets nary a mention...

The Duck of Minerva

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Peter

Recent Posts

Still Soveriegn After All These Years

B-2 Crash

(Air) Forced Out

Being there

Election Fun

Foreign Policy and Presidential Elections: Appeasement Part Deux

You Can’t Appease Chris Matthews

SecDef to Military: Buy weapons you can use

Why not invade Burma?

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