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

Signs of Trouble

by Peter | 12 April, 2007 |

Two lead articles in today's news reveal severe trouble for the Administration with respect to Iraq policy. Both are "inside-baseball" type of articles, but they are indicative of real problems with the overall direction of the course of the war.The first was the Washington Post's front page story:The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the...

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Counter-Terrorism vs. Counter-Proliferation

by Peter | 7 April, 2007 |

National Security is all about prioritizing tough decisions. Often, an administration can get away with avoiding the really tough calls, but from time to time, issues arise that force policy makers into pragmatic trade-offs between vital values and interests. Those choices are very instructive and insightful as to how a President sees the world. The NY Times reports that the Bush Administration faced just such a choice between its key goals of counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation:Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on...

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Random thoughts between feedings

by Peter | 31 March, 2007 |

Lets see how much I can type before I need to abandon blogging for the night and feed, change and put my new child back to sleep.So, yes, I've been out of touch for a while because I'm now a dad. First child, boy, born March 12. Very cute. Sleeps all day, does not yet like to sleep at night. Quite exciting.I will say this much-- it makes me appreciate the brilliance of Wittgenstein all the more. That which we cannot understand we pass over in silence (to paraphrase). Everyone says your life will be different, you have no idea, have your fun now. Sure, you say, I get it. No, there is no way...

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China starts investing

by Peter | 9 March, 2007 |

China has over $1 trillion of US treasury bills. Its a well described cycle--China produces massive amounts of consumer goods, the US buys those goods, the trade is imbalanced, so China ends up with a lot of dollars, and they invest them hier in T-bills, essentially loaning them back to the US government to finance the US federal budget deficit. So far, China has been sitting on this mound of cash, content to save. That seems to be changing, reports the NY Times today: China will create a new agency to invest the country’s immense reserves of foreign currency, now totaling more than $1...

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Assume A Rational Actor….

by Peter | 20 February, 2007 |

This was just too good to pass up. With immigration a growing political issues, The New York Times looks back and asks-- remember NAFTA, like 14 years ago? Wasn't that supposed to stop illegal immigration by building up the Mexican economy through free trade?Why didn’t Nafta curb this immigration? The answer is complicated, of course. But a major factor lies in the assumptions made in drafting the trade agreement, assumptions about the way governments would behave (that is, rationally) and the way markets would respond (rationally, as well).Neither happened...Ahh, the dreaded rationality...

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Frenemies

by Peter | 14 February, 2007 |

As I was saying about Frenemies (video) ....Its a must watch, especially if you're snowed in this morning like we are.

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Dictators on Parade

by Peter | 11 February, 2007 |

Parade Magazine--that little thing in your Sunday paper with all the advertisements from Best Buy and office Depot--has one article each year that I think is completely brilliant: Who is the World's Worst Dictator?Its such a simple thing, yet such a powerful statement, I'm surprised more people don't do it. Yet I love that its in Parade magazine--something with such mass circulation in the Sunday paper that people normally look to for celebrity interviews and such. One week a year, they lay out the "bad people" in the world and call American's attention to the other 'evil-doers' in the world...

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Why its so difficult to debate the war in Iraq

by Peter | 7 February, 2007 |

Over at Early Warning, William Arkin has generated incredible traffic to his site--over 1500 comments on one post--over his recent posts on the Iraq war. Arkin took on a very central issue in our debate over the war, and in doing so, exposed the continued difficulty we as a nation have in developing a language to debate the war.Arkin's initial column noted how "the troops" in Iraq--the enlisted soldiers who bear the brunt of the fighting in this war--are reacting to the rising criticism of the war:Friday's NBC Nightly News included a story from my colleague and friend Richard Engel, who was...

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Obligatory Superbowl Post

by Peter | 5 February, 2007 |

It is the single most viewed television event in the United States annually, and one of the most watched events in the world (and yes, its no World Cup, but there is no cup to watch this year...).After that first play, when Hester returned the opening kick-off for a Touchdown for the Bears, I thought to my self: well, game over, the Colts have won.I wasn't the only one.Still, how crazy is that, the same opening, the same result for the two biggest football games of the year.Filed as: Superbowl

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Aliens Inpersonate President Bush

by Peter | 31 January, 2007 |

I was actually intending to do a more thoughtful post inspired by this, (or maybe a more sarcastic one inspired by this), but, as I scanned over the NYT website, I actually gawked--out loud--in disbelief as I read this:President Bush took aim Wednesday at lavish salaries and bonuses for corporate executives, standing on Wall Street to issue a sharp warning for corporate boards to "step up to their responsibilities" and tie compensation packages to performance....The president acknowledged people's continuing nervousness about their financial picture, despite a string of similar reports that...

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