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

War and the Economy

by Vikash Yadav | 3 June, 2010 |

Two somewhat parallel stories have emerged, one from Europe the other from the Americas, about political leaders who believe that war fighting may be necessary for a strong economy. First, according to the Guardian:In a radio interview given on his return from a tour of German military bases in Afghanistan earlier this month, Köhler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, said that the largely pacifist German public was finally coming to terms with the concept that their country could no longer avoid involvement in military missions, which helped "protect our interests, for...

read more

“Courageous Restraint” Medal

by Vikash Yadav | 18 May, 2010 |

NATO is considering a medal for soldiers who display "courageous restraint" in their use of lethal force to save civilian lives. According to CNN,"Although no decisions have been made on the award itself, the idea is consistent with our strategic approach," Sholtis said. "Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different...

read more

Watching Hunger

by Vikash Yadav | 3 May, 2010 |

I finally took the time (and found the courage) to watch Steve McQueen's "Hunger" (2008). It is the story of the events that led to the 1981 Irish hunger strike at Maze Prison in which Bobby Sands and nine other men died. The film is hauntingly beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint and horrifying intellectually. There are very few films which actually merit the adjective "powerful," this is one of them. (I am still processing this film in my mind, but I thought I would share a few thoughts in case others have seen it and thought it through...)Critics will undoubtedly take issue with the...

read more

Headlines

by Vikash Yadav | 29 April, 2010 |

It is all a matter of how you spin it I guess:1. "Pentagon Report Shows Afghanistan Violence Up 87 Percent, Support for Karzai Low" Fox News, 29 April 2010.2. "Pentagon says Instability has 'Leveled Off'" Washington Post, 29 April 2010.3. "Encouraging trends in Afghanistan despite rise in violence" CNN, 29 April 2010.

read more

Brutality and Counter-insurgency

by Vikash Yadav | 23 April, 2010 |

Recently, while discussing the war in Afghanistan with a conflict studies program in the mid-west, I had a rather odd debate with a leftist professor who was devil's advocating what he claimed was a "neo-conservative" position (based on some of his recent interaction with naval officers and RAND researchers).His main argument revived the "stabbed in the back" hypothesis from the Vietnam era. The argument essentially posits that counter-insurgency is a cumulative body of knowledge first pioneered by the Britons. According to this position, Americans have been remarkably successful at applying...

read more

Disorder

by Vikash Yadav | 6 April, 2010 |

"Once the Afghan conflict could no longer be understood in terms of global imperatives, it became part of what the language of international relations refers to as an example of disorder. Thus the war in Afghanistan was described as a Hobbesian situation..." -Gilles Dorronsoro, Revolution UnendingDorronsoro's quote about Afghanistan after 1992 reminds us of the way in which the gaze of International Relations as a discipline turns away from conflicts which do not fit into the grid of geopolitical determinism. Conflicts which do not play into a larger narrative about the rise and fall of...

read more

After the Surge

by Vikash Yadav | 2 April, 2010 |

Washington and its "partner" in Kabul are simultaneously pursuing different strategies to try to bring the war in Afghanistan to a conclusion. While the US has opted to pursue a "whack-a-mole" military strategy across Southern Afghanistan that drives the Taliban from one district only to have them pop up in the next one, the Karzai regime is moving forward with its reconciliation strategy. In essence, the Americans have foregrounded a military strategy while the Karzai regime (with some support from the UN) is promoting a political strategy. The US has sidelined the "grand reconciliation"...

read more

Nuclear Protected Terrorism

by Vikash Yadav | 1 April, 2010 |

With apologies for the shameless self-promotion... My co-authored article on "Nuclear Protected Terrorism" is out in this month's Pragati: The Indian National Interest Review My co-author and I argue:"The prospects for an end to the protracted conflict between India and Pakistan appear as remote as ever. In fact, it is likely that there will more deadly provocations in the future by terrorist groups based on Pakistani soil. In a recent op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal, C Christine Fair noted that in the future “Pakistan is likely to become more reliant, not less, on nuclear-protected...

read more

Operation Omaid in Kandahar

by Vikash Yadav | 24 March, 2010 |

The southern Afghan city founded by Alexander the Great (and which still bears a Pashto version of his name) is the latest target of the US/NATO/ISAF military forces. Initial efforts to secure key roads into Kandahar began last week. "Operation Omaid [Hope]" as it has been dubbed aims to gain control of this city which is the original home of the Taliban movement. The operation is expected to take several months to complete.The Taliban (i.e. the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) have already begun their counter-offensive, detonating seven bombs (including two suicide bombs) in mid-March that...

read more

Digital Burqa

by Vikash Yadav | 22 March, 2010 |

A few days ago, Charli pondered "whether or not the Internet and social media empowers civil society or instead simply offers states new tools of repression and governance." And she provided a link to an excellent video about Iranian bloggers. I haven't been able to get the question or the video out of my head. This is not my topic/area of research, but I will offer a few tentative thoughts to see if it will spark some discussion...What color is your burqa?If we were to visualize the Internet, would we not see a vast social space populated by individuals (men and women) wearing burqas,...

read more