The Duck of Minerva

Rodger Payne

Rodger A. Payne is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville. He serves on the University’s Sustainability Council and was a co-founder of the Peace, Conflict, and Social Justice program. He is the author of dozens of journal articles and book chapters and coauthor, with Nayef Samhat, of Democratizing Global Politics: Discourse Norms, International Regimes, and Political Community (SUNY, 2004). He is currently working on two major projects, one exploring the role of narratives in international politics and the other examining the implications of America First foreign policy.

Recent Posts

The Latest on U.S. Militarism

by Rodger Payne | 19 March, 2010 |

In my U.S. Foreign Policy class this semester, students read the latest book from historian Andrew Bacevich, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008). As in his prior work, Bacevich is critical of the apparent militarism in American foreign policy. Primarily, he argues that the U.S. is too willing to use military force as an instrument of policy and that the American people and its leaders overestimate the effectiveness of military power.Arguably, another indicator of American militarism is its willingness to place former top military leaders into security policy posts...

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The Hurt Locker, again

by Rodger Payne | 10 March, 2010 |

Duck of Minerva bloggers have already written quite a bit about "The Hurt Locker," which won the Best Picture prize at this week's Academy Awards ceremony. I saw the movie on DVD a few weeks ago and have been digesting some of the reactions to the film. Like many critics of this film, Michael Kamber of the NY Times offers a list of serious errors in "The Hurt Locker." Viewers see the bomb disposal team leave on missions without much other military support. The team members clear buildings by themselves, become skilled snipers and spotters when they stumble upon some British mercenaries, and...

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Foreign Policy Charade

by Rodger Payne | 8 March, 2010 |

A few weeks ago, Steve Walt relied upon his own recent experiences writing about the Israeli Lobby to generate "a list of the lessons" he learned from "grabbing the third rail" of foreign policy discourse.Interestingly, Walt's somewhat older list of foreign policy taboo positions did not include challenging U.S. foreign policy towards Israel (or Israeli security policy). Had Walt declined to grab the rail this time?I was reminded of the continued primary importance of these issues recently when reading a short book review in The Nation. Charles Glass, author of the review, used a sizable...

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Biological Weapons

by Rodger Payne | 27 February, 2010 |

A few years ago, a mid-career biochemist enrolled in my master's level international relations course because he was burned out of working in academic and commercial settings in his field. He wanted to apply his background in biological sciences to his new interest in security politics. The 2001 anthrax attacks, in particular, had influenced his thinking.Phil McCauley turned out to be a very bright and capable student and we soon figured out a meaningful way to connect our common interests. After all, I spent much of the past decade thinking and writing about the "Bush Doctrine" of...

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Wilson’s legacy

by Rodger Payne | 26 February, 2010 |

Duck readers may recall that just over two years ago Charli posted about an interesting and provocative Deborah Boucoyannis article arguing that realist notions of the balance-of-power are actually liberal ideas about checks-and-balances. The post generated a lot of comments (which apparently cannot be linked under the new software), including a fairly long and somewhat critical one from Duck founder Dan Nexon. Despite the flaws he noted, Dan nonetheless wrote that "the argument...is persuasive; she's made a very important contribution, at a minimum, in arguing that the 'balance of power' is...

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More ISA highlights

by Rodger Payne | 24 February, 2010 |

I spent a fair amount of time at ISA attending panels and very little sitting in the NOLA bars. Perhaps I wasn't fully engaged in the "business of conferencing," though we'd all probably agree that "ISA is what we make of it." So, what did I make of ISA 2010 (beyond what I wrote Saturday)?Over several delicious dinners through the week, I learned that Abita Amber is over-carbonated. This Duck recommends ordering the Turbodog. The next time ISA selects a hotel within a short walk of a casino, I propose that a group of IR theorists nab a table and play Texas Hold 'Em. Will the rational choice...

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ISA: Renewing my call for comedy

by Rodger Payne | 21 February, 2010 |

I'm just back from the 2010 ISA conference in NOLA, but I don't have time for a full convention report right now. Among the highlights: First, I attended a panel on blogging featuring the Duck's Charli Carpenter on a stage with Dan Drezner, Rob Farley and Steve Walt, among others. Later, over drinks, I got to meet a few of the newest Duck bloggers.These events motivated me to blog more frequently. We'll see, eh?In any case, in addition to networking, a major purpose of ISA is for scholars to exchange ideas in a somewhat formal setting. Ideally, panel members present their latest research and...

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Hamiltonian Failure?

by Rodger Payne | 22 January, 2010 |

Yesterday, my class on U.S. Foreign Policy considered Walter Russell Mead's Hamiltonian School -- ostensibly an American realism grounded in the aligned interests of the state and business. The Hamiltonians have their roots in Alexander Hamilton. They have always believed that the American national strategy should be modeled on the British system: use your trade to make money through commerce; government should support large business; your trade policy should be an instrument of your economic development, however that benefits you most; and then, the revenues from your international trade...

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Haiti

by Rodger Payne | 14 January, 2010 |

If you are trying to follow the news about Haiti, I recommend reading Mark Leon Goldberg's UN Dispatch. If you are looking to donate to the relief effort, then check out The Daily Beast's rundown of NGOs operating effectively in Haiti. Goldberg and I agree that Reverend Pat Robertson is a fool. Media Matters transcribed his January 13 comments about the Haitian tragedy:PAT ROBERTSON: And, you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together...

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Good news on Iran?

by Rodger Payne | 11 January, 2010 |

Haaretz.com is reporting that Iran is suspending its uranium enrichment program for two months. This news arrives amidst a flurry of other related reports about Iran and its nuclear program.Many political pundits have been blasting the Obama administration for its "total dud" diplomatic efforts towards Iran, noting that the U.S. deadline for Iran to make a deal about uranium enrichment elapsed in December. During the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama repeatedly said he would talk to Iran without preconditions. Did Obama say what would happen if the talks failed to produce results?Is...

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