The Duck of Minerva

Peter Henne

Peter Henne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on global religious politics and the Middle East. His first book, Islamic Politics, Muslim States and Counterterrorism Tensions, was published in 2017 by Cambridge University Press and he is currently working on a book analyzing how states try to use religion in foreign policy. His scholarly research has been published in International Journal of Religion, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Church and State, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Politics and Religion, Religions, States and Societies, and Terrorism and Political Violence. In addition to the Duck, he has written for the Washington Post's Monkeycage, Political Violence at a Glance and The Huffington Post.

Website

Peter Henne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on global religious politics and the Middle East. His first book, Islamic Politics, Muslim States and Counterterrorism Tensions, was published in 2017 by Cambridge University Press and he is currently working on a book analyzing how states try to use religion in foreign policy. His scholarly research has been published in International Journal of Religion, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Church and State, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Politics and Religion, Religions, States and Societies, and Terrorism and Political Violence. In addition to the Duck, he has written for the Washington Post's Monkeycage, Political Violence at a Glance and The Huffington Post.

Recent Posts

How should IR scholars respond to tragedy?

How should IR scholars respond to tragedy?

by | 6 February, 2023 |

Like many, I woke up in shock at the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. The earthquake, centered in Gaziantep, has killed 3,000 as of Monday afternoon devastated southeast Turkey and northern Syria. In addition to Gaziantep, other affected Turkish cities were Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir [Note-these aren't the proper spellings as I can't figure out how to insert Turkish characters]. The tragedy of Turkey's southeast Any destruction and death on this scale is a tragedy, but the earthquake followed a string of other problems for the region. Turkey's southeast was long marginalized,...

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Ok, students think race and climate change matter. Now what?

Ok, students think race and climate change matter. Now what?

by | 19 December, 2022 |

When I first started teaching intro to IR, I closed the semester with lectures on climate change and the second Congo war (or "Africa's world war"). This was part of my effort to include current and overlooked aspects of international relations. As time went on, and discussions spread about how IR should deal with racial and environmental issues, I expanded these lectures. The former now looks at whether IR is up to the task of addressing current crises like climate change. And the latter looks at whether ethnocentrism in IR can be fixed. This is connected to my general approach to IR, which...

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Is the World Cup a soft power win for Qatar? It’s too early to tell

Is the World Cup a soft power win for Qatar? It’s too early to tell

by | 6 December, 2022 |

Millions of people around the world are watching breathlessly as teams compete in the World Cup, held in Qatar. Many others--like me--tune it out, turned off by that guy in grad school who spent a semester in Barcelona and then pretended to be a life-long Spain fan. But this year, the World Cup caught my attention for a nerdier reason: the constant talk of Qatar's "soft power" through the tournament. My fraught relationship with soft power Soft power is one of my scholarly areas of interest. I've written on conceptual issues with the way people discuss soft power, and have a chapter in a...

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Was the Colorado nightclub attack terrorism? Does it matter?

Was the Colorado nightclub attack terrorism? Does it matter?

by | 21 November, 2022 |

Once again, America is enduring the horrors of a mass shooting. This time a gunman attacked a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, opening fire before patrons grabbed his weapon and beat him with it. As of the time of writing (Monday morning) five are dead, and there are fears the number will increase. And once again, we are trying to make sense of this. Why did the shooter do this? What could have prevented this? Was this "random, senseless" violence or a targeted attack? Or was it something more, a terrorist attack against the country's LGBTQ population? What makes something terrorism?...

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No, social science didn’t kill international relations, part 58

No, social science didn’t kill international relations, part 58

by | 9 November, 2022 |

Earlier this week, professional opinion-haver Tom Nichols posted a "short" Twitter thread complaining that the push to make IR a social science, combined with the dominance of realism, is leading to bad takes on Ukraine. Despite my mindfulness-inspired efforts to ignore annoyances on social media, I felt compelled to respond (with the above picture). I was tempted to leave it at that, but this sort of argument appears every five years or so, usually by someone who is far from connected to current trends in IR. So, as I attempted with Dying to Win, I decided to write a post we could resurrect...

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Peace, Just Peace, and Ukraine

Peace, Just Peace, and Ukraine

by | 7 October, 2022 |

Many around the world are on edge over the possibility of Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons to stem Ukraine's battlefield successes. This has revived calls, present since before Putin invaded Russia's neighbor, to negotiate a way out of this war. Those issuing these calls see themselves as defenders of peace, but they are missing a major portion of what peace requires. Calls for "peace" Many in America have urged restraint in our dealings with Russia, in the hopes that this will ease Putin's antagonistic policies. President Obama hesitated to take action when Russia seized part...

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What makes for a successful conference?

What makes for a successful conference?

by | 23 September, 2022 |

Like many, I've finally gotten back on schedule after the American Political Science Association conference last week. The travel was easier for me than most others; the site, Montreal, is only two miles from home so I didn't have to deal with any airline mishaps. But I still, as always, wonder if the trip was worth it. Even though it's covered by my research budget, do I get enough out of these conferences to justify the time away from my family and all the coursework I have to catch up on? How would I even know? Shifting views of conference success I had unreasonable expectations for my...

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The Qatar crisis ends…in the most boring way possible

The Qatar crisis ends…in the most boring way possible

by | 2 September, 2022 |

The Qatar crisis threatened to upend Middle East politics. Instead, it fizzled out. That says a lot about international relations, and how to study it. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia and the UAE--along with a few other states--announced a blockade of Qatar. Frustrated with Qatar's tolerance of revolutionary actors during the Arab Spring protests and relative friendliness with Iran, these states cut Qatar off from international travel and commerce. They issued a series of demands, including ending support for groups the Saudis deemed extremist and limiting ties with Iran. [sc name="left_call_out"...

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Will there be a bin Laden of right-wing extremism?

Will there be a bin Laden of right-wing extremism?

by | 20 May, 2022 |

By now it’s clear that the attack on a Buffalo, NY supermarket was a case of right-wing terrorism. An individual targeted the store because many of its customers were black, and hoped to use the attack to make a broader political statement. Unfortunately, such attacks are growing in intensity, and these right-wing terrorists seem to be learning from each other. The next stage for this movement will depend on which historical model it follows: that of the 1800s anarchists or al-Qaeda. The growing threat from right-wing extremism The tragedy in Buffalo is only the latest in a wave of...

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