The Duck of Minerva

Peter

Dr. Peter Howard focuses on US foreign policy and international security. He studies how the implementation of foreign policy programs produces rule-based regional security regimes, conducting research in Estonia on NATO Expansion and US Military Exchange programs and South Korea on nuclear negotiations with North Korea.

Recent Posts

Clear Images Produce a Cloudy Picture

by Peter | 28 October, 2007 |

This week new information emerged in the ongoing mystery as to what Israel bombed in Syria several months ago—much anticipated satellite imagery of the suspect site. These pictures below, originally printed in the NY Times, are commercial imagery, analyzed by David Albright at the Institute for Science and International Security (pdf of his report here). They show the critical before and after pictures—before the strike and just recently.* The smoking gun?Sort of. Its clear that something was there, and, interestingly, its clear that Syria doesn’t want to discuss it—they’ve apparently...

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An enigma wrapped in a riddle shrouded in mystery…

by Peter | 11 October, 2007 |

...if anything happened at all (?)The mystery raid by Israeli planes against some sort of target in Syria last month continues to confuse and mystify. The just as it starts to get quiet and recede into the background, a new series of facts emerge to renew interest in the event. Just as a semi-coherent account starts to emerge, something else comes out that throws a spanner into the whole works.Today is no different.To recap: Some Israeli planes crossed into Syrian airspace and did something. Neither Israel nor Syria really want to discuss it all that much, except for the fact that neither...

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Playoff time is here

by Peter | 3 October, 2007 |

Its a great day here at the Duck, as the playoffs begin and my team, the Cleveland Indians, are front and center, tied for the best record in all of baseball, as the home team hosting the Evil Empire, better known as the Yankees.Hope springs eternal in Cleveland. Our team, ranked second in the ESPN misery index of suffering baseball fans, is now a very likable, exciting, group of players, led by Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, CC Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, and Pronk, perhaps the best nickname in all of baseball. I'm here to give the baseball loving IR world a little dose of Cleveland Rocks.

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The Plot Thickens…

by Peter | 23 September, 2007 |

The controversy over the Israeli raid into Syria rages on. The Sunday Times has peeled back another layer of the onion, one that only deepens the mystery as to what Israel actually bombed in northern Syria. This latest tidbit seems to support the notion that it was in fact a North Korean supplied nuclear site in Syria. If true, it is perhaps only the tip of a much larger iceberg, and per Landis:"If this story is true," a Syrian friend of mine just told me, "Asad should fire his top generals, instantly."The Times reports:ISRAELI commandos from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit – almost certainly...

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Realism vs. Idealism in US Foreign Policy

by Peter | 19 September, 2007 |

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gave a fascinating speech Monday to the World Forum on the Future of Democracy addressing "a 'realist's' view of promoting democracy abroad."The whole speech is worth reading (here). In it, Gates reflects on the longstanding debate between the "realists" and "idealists" in US Foreign Policy. It is very closely related to the great debate between Liberals and Realists in IR Theory. It also happens that many Intro IR and Intro to IR Theory classes (such as mine this semester) are covering these very topics right now.In IR theory, we like to look back to...

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Secret Strike (and the consequences of failure)

by Peter | 18 September, 2007 |

Something is brewing in the Middle East that merits close attention, because the more we learn about it, the more intriguing it becomes. It also brings home some chickens to roost, so to speak, for earlier Bush Administration foreign policy failures.Last week, Israel launched a highly secret air-strike deep into Syria. Despite the fact that Israel and Syria share a border (the direct route), the squadron of Israeli F-15's flew over the Med, through Turkey (a very close Israeli military ally), and dropped significant ordinance onto a Syrian target. The entire operation has been cloaked in...

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Bush’s Attempt to find a Legacy

by Peter | 6 September, 2007 |

With his approval ratings in the low thirties--historic lows for a sitting President--Bush is now turning to "history" to vindicate him and his decisions on Iraq. He's hoping to become another Truman, unpopular due to a war on his watch but later lauded by those looking back on his acomplishments. I don't think this is likely to happen.First, this weekend, we recieved an interesting look inside the Bush inner-circle and decision-making process. Harry Truman is venerated for making tough decisions--considering the right path, confering with top advisors, making a choice, seeing it through,...

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Why does the Cheese Stand Alone?

by Peter | 5 September, 2007 |

Seriously. Why does the cheese stand alone?I know I'm woefully behind on substantive posts-- I promise they are coming-- but this question has been vexing me for some time now. And, since I spent much of today singing along to Sesame Street kids songs with my 6 month old (and Big Bird conveniently edits the lyrics of the Farmer in the Dell from "The Cheese Stands Alone" to "The rest is up to you"), I've become critically concerned about this.In fact, Wikipedia has no answer. The section on the page about questions--why the cheese stands alone, that's me, I did that.

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You can’t make this stuff up…

by Peter | 28 August, 2007 |

How much more excitement can the Senate handle? With prospect of a confirmation hearing heating up the Hill, this crosses the web-page of the Washington Post: Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested back in June and plead guilty to disorderly conduct.First, how on earth does this not come out until now? He's a sitting Senator pleading guilty to a criminal offense. A misdemeanor, yes, but still a crime. And he's now on probation. A sitting Senator, on probation. And no one knew.Second, what on earth was Craig doing in the bathroom of the Minnesota airport when arrested???Roll Call, citing a...

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Gonzales Resigns

by Peter | 27 August, 2007 |

The NY Times is reporting that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has tendered his resignation.This is a pretty big deal, I think-- Gonzales was under fire for all kinds of activities, many stemming from a secret intelligence program that includes spying on American targets without a warrant. He had lost a lot of credibility and ability to function effectiviely as the nation's highest law enforcement officer. However, one thing that sticks in the back of my mind--when Rove resigned, he mentioned that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said that anyone leaving should leave by Labor Day,...

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