The Duck of Minerva

Vikash Yadav

Vikash is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. His main areas of academic interest are (post-) globalization, economic development, and economic freedom, with a regional focus on South Asia

Recent Posts

Fun with Ngrams

by Vikash Yadav | 17 December, 2010 |

If you're a nerdy professor trying to avoid grading, like I am, you might want to play around with Google Lab's new Ngram feature.  The feature allows you to see how often a particular word or phrase has appeared within a large number of books over time.  For examples, here is a chart comparing the use of the term "failed states" to "rogue states" from 1960 to 2010 in English language books scanned by Google Books:Or, here is a comparison of the term "Human Security" with "Humanitarian Intervention" from 1900 to 2010 in the English language holdings:Overall the specific terms are...

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The Wikileaks Rap

by Vikash Yadav | 3 December, 2010 |

In keeping with the Duck tradition of reducing IR issues to rap videos...(It is worth sticking around until 4:55 for the cameo...)From The Juicemedia and Mother Jones

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Why Wikileaks Matters

by Vikash Yadav | 1 December, 2010 |

The initial release of a mere 291 out of 251,287 diplomatic cables has generated a predictable buzz on the blogosphere and established media outlets. Pundits have quickly maneuvered into standard structural roles in relation to the content of the leaked documents: the ho-hum nothing-to-see-here-move-it-along dismisser, the passionate defender, the morally outraged diplomat, etc. What seems to be missing is an analysis of this phenomenon as a form of global politics.In order to understand why Wikileaks is significant, it is important to realize that the organization is not particularly...

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The Transition

by Vikash Yadav | 19 November, 2010 |

In discussing the planned handover of security responsibilities to the Afghan National Army, Vice President Joe Biden stated:"Daddy is going to start to take the training wheels off in October -- I mean in next July -- so you'd better practice riding," he said of the plan that will be outlined at the NATO summit in Lisbon.  (ABC News Radio)The undiluted mix of imperialism and paternalism, while embarrassing from a public relations standpoint, is a good guide to how the US plans to spin the transition.  The US and ISAF will seek to shift responsibility and hence the blame for a precarious and...

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Russia’s Return to Afghanistan

by Vikash Yadav | 2 November, 2010 |

The participation of four Russian counter-narcotics agents in a US/ISAF raid on four heroin labs in Afghanistan has left many pundits wondering whether the war in Afghanistan as well as US/NATO/ISAF--Russian relations are entering a new phase.  However, before one can speculate, there are a few misconceptions in news reports that I think should be clarified and corrected in order to place the story into its proper context.First, several news papers have adopted the narrative that the Soviet military was "defeated" in Afghanistan. The NY Times report (10/29/2010) states,"The operation, in...

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Operation Dragon Strike and Kandahar

by Vikash Yadav | 22 October, 2010 |

The New York Times is reporting that ISAF troops are making progress in Kandahar.  Credit for progress is given equally to the surge in troops and a new mobile rocket which has "pinpoint accuracy -- like a small cruise missile."  While military commanders are cautious, Western and Afghan civilians are saying that Taliban losses have "sapped the momentum the insurgency had in the area."As I am skeptical of some of the spin and zombie reporting which has been generated by the American media in recent months, I thought I would check and see what Afghan news sources are reporting from the areas...

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The Drone and the Cyborg

by Vikash Yadav | 17 October, 2010 |

The drone and the cyborg were born near the dawn of the nuclear age (i.e. the Vergeltungswaffen and the Kamikaze), and appeared in several previous conflicts, but they did not simultaneously reshape the dynamics of war until after 2001.The armed drone represents a displaced subjectivity that eludes the laws of war and Eurocentric/ anthropocentric notions of sovereignty. The soldier operating the drone spies, hunts, and kills from thousands of miles away; s/he murders combatants and non-combatants without taking any risk or responsibility. The drone violates the sovereign territory of foreign...

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The Blogs of War

by Vikash Yadav | 13 October, 2010 |

Later this week, I will be participating in a roundtable discussion with my esteemed colleagues Juan Cole, Manan Ahmed, Joshua Foust and Madiha Tahir on "The Blogs of War: The Analytical Terrain of the Af-Pak Blogosphere" at the annual conference on South Asia at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.For my contribution to this discussion, I have been scouring blogs from US/ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan. (I ignored the glossier blogs which are mainly exercises in official public relations and propaganda). Since I am up to my eyeballs reading blogs posts, I thought I would share a few...

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The Calculus of Counter-narcotics

by Vikash Yadav | 1 October, 2010 |

$250 million = the amount spent just by the US in FY2010 to counter narcotics in Afghanistan$100 million = the amount earned annually by the Taliban from narcotics trafficking304,000 acres = the number of acres devoted to opium in 2009304,000 acres = the number of acres devoted to opium in 2010$64 per Kg = the price of opium in 2009$169 per Kg = the price of opium in 2010Total production of opium did decline, but mainly because of a disease damaging the poppy crop.  The spike in prices makes it likely that the number of acres devoted to the crop will increase in 2011.

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Institutionalized Riot Systems and the Hyper-real Koran

by Vikash Yadav | 14 September, 2010 |

Fourteen civilians and two security officers have now died in Kashmir in violence related to rumors about the "Burn a Koran Day" in Florida. When added to the death in Afghanistan, this brings the total number of deaths to seventeen so far. Many more will die in the coming weeks and months even though the Koran burning was called off. Rumors will resurface that the burning has gone ahead even though such rumors will have no basis in reality. Why is this likely? Paul Brass' groundbreaking work on institutionalized systems to produce riots may help us to better understand what is happening and...

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