The Duck of Minerva

Tom, an often-funny blogger at at Functional Ambivalent, today criticizes "liberals" among Kevin Drum's commenters for failing to respond to a direct question Kevin asked concerning the US attack in Pakistan last week. Here's the question from the popular blog: For the sake of argument, let's assume that we had pretty good intelligence telling us that a bunch of al-Qaeda leaders were in the house we bombed. And let's also assume that we did indeed kill al-Masri and several other major al-Qaeda leaders. Finally, let's assume that the 18 civilians killed in the attack were genuinely innocent...

Many critics of the Bush administration -- including those on the left -- have often over the past three years complained that the U.S. was focusing on the wrong state in the war on terrorism. Iran sponsors terrorists (especially Hamas) and pursues WMD. The evidence is arguably much, much clearer than it was with Iraq. Setting aside the question of sanctions for a moment, which are quite problematic given the west's great need for imported oil, just what would critics have the US and its coalition partners do about the problem of Iran?Personally, I'm trying to figure out why a nuclear-armed...

Over at my blog, I've written a lengthy post on "'Pro-war' Democrats and the 2006 Elections." Since it is about the likely role of Iraq in the congressional midterm elections, it is probably suitable for the Duck. However, I'm resolved in 2006 to generate unique content for each space and to avoid excessive duplication by cross-posting.Click the post title, read, and comment.I'll have something for this space soon.Put "after the fold" in hereFiled as: Iraq and the 2006 elections

After I posted "Isn't this what friends are for?" Wednesday, I received an email from Kevin Anderson of the BBC News radio program, "World Have Your Say." Kevin wanted me to partake in a discussion about Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster's critique of the US army in Iraq -- live Thursday (about 1:30 pm ET, early evening in the UK). Unfortunately, he wrote only a few hours before the broadcast and I read it only half an hour or so in advance.I emailed him (he quickly replied) and asked if he wanted to talk to me about the war. I've done many radio interviews and thought this was more of the same....

You know you're in a "special relationship" when your partner feels free to offer frank criticism.As reported in today's Washington Post, the Bush administration has now found that out: A senior British officer has written a scathing critique of the U.S. Army and its performance in Iraq, accusing it of cultural ignorance, moralistic self-righteousness, unproductive micromanagement and unwarranted optimism there.British Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, former deputy commander of a program to train the Iraqi military, has penned a "candid" critique in the U.S. Army publication, Military Review...

The new academic year is underway and it is time to start thinking more seriously about a paper I've promised for the International Studies Association annual meeting in San Diego in March. Warning: that is a large pdf.I'm returning to a topic I explored a few years ago -- the role of "framing" in global debates about norms, policies and ideas. The panel proposal had to be in by June 1, so my paper was partly motivated by something I blogged about in late May: the ongoing framing contest about the militarization of space. Some people in the Pentagon are promoting new technologies, such as...

On September 15, 2002, when it was becoming increasingly probable that the US was gearing up to "liberate" Iraq, The Washington Post ran a front page story about the future of that state's oil. Reporters Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway noted that Iraq had the world's second largest supply of proven oil reserves (112 billion barrels), which meant that toppling Saddam Hussein "could open a bonanza for American oil companies long banished from Iraq, scuttling oil deals between Baghdad and Russia, France and other countries, and reshuffling world petroleum markets." The story quoted Iraqi...

Over at my blog, I've just published a followup to Bill's post last month on the William and Mary survey about the field of IR.After examining the list of the 25 most influential IR scholars in some detail, I've invited readers to answer these questions: What are the most influential IR books and articles published in the past 15 years (since 1990)? Who are the field's most important thinkers under age 50?Feel free to put answers in comments, or to send me an email. I'll try to compile some results in a few weeks. Mull it over.Filed as: Influential IR scholars

Did you catch the President tonight? I cannot believe he did not specifically address the issue of domestic spying, though I realize it was the subject of Saturday's radio address. Before long, he may regret both yesterday's defiance and today's silence. We'll see.In any case, the President did make some interesting comments. For example, it is noteworthy that despite appearances, Bush apparently doesn't mind criticism -- so long as the critics aren't "defeatists." We will continue to listen to honest criticism, and make every change that will help us complete the mission. Yet there is a...

What would happen to Iraq if America withdrew almost immediately?In other words, what would happen if Representative Murtha's proposal was implemented? Gary Boatwright at Seeing the Forest is taking this question seriously -- as is Nir Rosen in The Atlantic Monthly.The conventional wisdom, is that the violence would worsen as Iraq moves toward civil war. The Iraqi government would be unable to govern and Iraq might become a failed state. That's essentially the worst case scenario according to President Bush -- Iraq ends up replacing Afghanistan as the safe haven host state for international...