Intra-elite, state-centric society is a strategic front, and ought to be defended and put to use in the continued development of a global and decolonial turn in IR.
A reckoning with the traditional diplomatic community
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Academia
Selection Processes in Academia: Time for a Revamp
Current trends in the academic job market paint a bleak picture. Data from U.S. universities reveal a drop in job postings in the Politics field over the past three years and a decline in...
Patriarchy and the Cult of Coercion: Pale, Male, and Stale Will Make Deterrence Fail
Carol Cohn is the G.O.A.T. Back in 1987, she wrote what is still the best gendered take on the pathologies of deterrence in a piece called, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense...
Judging a book by its cover
When I was in middle school I loved history: ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, the Middle Ages always fascinated me. Often during the summer vacation, I would read the history books in advance to...
More Academia Posts
In Memoriam: Jon Western
Back in the Duck of Minerva's heyday, Jon Western was one of its anchors. Indeed, it wasn't that long ago that we were talking about his returning. Jon said that he'd gained important perspective on the state of higher education from his time as dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke. He wanted to share that with a broader audience. That won't happen. Jon died on Saturday. I don't have the details. Just a forwarded email from Mount Holyoke. It reads: Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,It is with the utmost sorrow that I write to say that, yesterday,...
Ban the “Failed Search”?
How do colleges and universities go about hiring tenure-line (or the equivalent) faculty in politics and international relations? Back in 2013, I provided a short overview of the typical U.S. process: Starting in the late summer, political-science departments post position announcements with the American Political Science Association. Most job hunters read those announcements on e-jobs and decide whether or not to apply.Prospective hires send in materials to institutions. These typically include: (1) at least one writing sample -- sometimes a published article, sometimes an...
Where does the Academic Work End? or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Burnout
that I actually conceived of the idea for this post last week but was only able to force myself to write it today by promising myself a variety of self-care rewards like naps and whiskey.
Robert Jervis
As many of our readers have likely already heard, Robert Jervis died yesterday. The field has lost a gentle intellectual giant. Unlike many of my friends from Columbia, Bob wasn't on my dissertation committee; I only took one course from him. But I'll remember him as both brilliant and very generous. Indeed, back in November I received an email from a student in my "International Order" class. He was very excited because the Robert Jervis had agreed to a 45-minute interview over Zoom. The student had no idea, of course, that Bob was sick – and yet still took the time to speak to a college...
Professing Abroad: European Academia 101
Willardson and Sullivan’s recent article here provided numerous useful tips for Americans who want to “profess abroad.” They also asked scholars outside the United States to weigh in with thoughts. As a European, I thought I’m a good position to furnish relevant information for those who may be a considering an academic career in Europe. I am from Austria, although my entire academic career has taken place outside my home country. I taught for ten years in Switzerland, held a visiting Professorship at Columbia University, and am currently part of the faculty at the University of Bergen in...
Who’s Afraid of China’s Nukes?
In 1932, John Chamberlain lamented “the unwillingness of the liberal to continue with analysis once the process of analysis had become uncomfortable.” He was critiquing the way Wilsonian liberals drifted into World War One. Socialists and reformist progressives had thought seriously about both the causes of the war and the realistic consequences for American democracy if the nation opted in. Liberals, he charged, couldn’t stomach such analysis and instead idealized the upside of succumbing to war fever. I think about Chamberlain’s quote...
Are you writing an MA thesis at APSIA-type program? Here are some things to consider
Many MA programs at so-called professional schools of international affairs require students to complete a thesis. The purpose of this is not always clear-cut for students in terminal and interdisciplinary degree programs. Having supervised dozens of students in this pursuit, I have a few thoughts about how you can tackle some of the thorny practicalities of thesis writing, and make the experience as beneficial for yourself as possible. Coming up with a good research question and finding people to engage your work are two of the hardest things we do in the academy. And yet, these are the...
Playing the Waiting Game: The Harsh Truth of Academic Timelines
Academics depend on slow processes subject to unfortunate slowdowns. And, unfortunately, academic timelines can make or break careers.