Remembering Our Lost Colleagues
I started this post sort of confessionally. It’s been a while since I wrote on the blog. I...
Farewell
The Hayseed Scholar podcast has come to a close. In this farewell episode, Brent's brother...
Can the news ever be impartial?
Probably not, but the problem isn’t impartiality it’s the politics of impartiality On...
Here We Go Again: Why American Presidents Can’t Resist Regime Change
The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean is confusing the MAGA faithful. With rumors swirling of...
New
Do Realists and Leftists Want the Same Thing?
Most versions of the left gain little and sacrifice much in accepting a realist epistemology. Theories of international relations are just tools for making sense of patterns and puzzles in the world; they don’t need groupies.
Which will matter more, MESA’s BDS vote or the Negev Summit?
This has been either a bad week for Israel, or a great week for Israel, depending on whom you ask or what your Twitter feed looks like. In the end, this may matter more for the relevance and impact of Middle East studies than anything else.
6+1 Questions about Subversive Pedagogies
The volume calls on international-relations instructors to make use of “subversive pedagogies” — ones that embrace a more holistic understanding of teaching. It invites academics to interrogate what we teach, how we teach, where we teach, and whom we teach.
Featured
Benjamin de Carvalho
Dr. Benjamin de Carvalho joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Ben was born in Switzerland to a...
Who wants AI in the classroom?
I get emails. Sometimes they find me well; sometimes they try to convince me that I need to bring...
After Anarchy? On Hierarchy, Heterarchy, and Multiplicity
Kenneth Waltz famously claimed that anarchy—i.e., the absence of a global sovereign—is the...
Recent
Bullies, Follies, and Decadent Orders: Constructing Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern
On November 1, 2025, President Donald Trump threatened to end all U.S. assistance to Nigeria and —...
Exploring the Meaning of Responsibility
I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of “responsibility,” specifically in the context of...
Nuclear apocalypse now? Reflections on the movie “A House of Dynamite”
I had high hopes for director Kathryn Bigelow’s House of Dynamite, a new Netflix movie about U.S....
ACADEME
Why have so many Muslim communities embraced radicalism?
Over two decades have passed since the horrifying 9/11 attacks. Do we have a consensus...
Joseph Nye’s other big idea
Renowned international relations scholar and practitioner Joseph S. Nye passed away last week....
6+1 Questions About “The Social Construction of Christian Persecution through Quantification in International Religious Freedom Advocacy”
What is the name of the journal article (or book) and what are its coordinates? Miray Philips....
6+1 Questions about American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War and the Making of US Foreign Policy
What’s the name of the book, and where can we find it? American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War...