There is more continuity in the history of U.S. military basing policy than is typically assumed.
On Continuity in U.S. Military Basing Practices
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Recent Posts
Centering George W. Bush in the Etiology of the Iraq War
The second- and third-most downloaded articles at the journal Security Studies both tackle the causes of the Iraq War. This might reflect an imbalance of supply and demand: there aren't that many...
The Vision Thing: More on the New Duck
Is there still room for a traditional academic international-relations blog? An overview of relevant history and the Duck’s approach to blogging.
From “Wilsonian” to “Rooseveltian” Liberalism
Daniel Deudney and John Ikenberry recently published a ‘big think’ article in Foreign Policy. They note that the Biden administration’s approach to foreign and domestic policy – including its particular understanding of the relationship between them – is best understood as “Rooseveltian” in character. What should we make of this?
More Recent Posts
Memories of Rumsfeld’s Snowflakes
I have written before about my Rummy experiences, but wanted tor revisit after seeing this post yesterday at vox. I was able to dig through Rummy's website and found the document that spawned a heap of paperwork at my desk on the Joint Staff. In the aftermath of 9/11, many allies, partners and...
Power and Negotiation: A Geopolitical Waltz
The following is a guest post submitted by Valentina Amuso and Kyle McNally. Is the US in an inevitable spiral of decline? Is China rising as the new hegemon? These are a few of the new dinner table topics of the 21st century. The latest iteration of such questions can be found in the discourse...
Open Thread on Surveillance, Snowden, and John Oliver
Last night, John Oliver (the comedian no less!) had a terrific interview with Edward Snowden, which was much more introspective and challenging than the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour. Oliver sought to grapple with the necessity for secrecy in intelligence and the moral responsibility...
Open Thread – Iran Deal – Pros and cons
I've been reading some interesting exchanges on Facebook about the pros and cons of the Iran deal, and though I've been snowed under by grading to have much bandwidth for blogging of late, I thought I would start an open thread here. Fareed Zakaria laid out the case for a deal before it happened...
Stumbling Through Foreign Policy – Not History
Last week Joe Scarborough from Politico raised the question of why US foreign policy in the Middle East is in “disarray.” Citing all of the turmoil from the past 14 years, he posits that both Obama and Bush’s decisions for the region are driven by “blind ideology [rather] than sound reason.” ...
Friday Nerd Blogging
What? No "pirates?" Ironic, since the Season 4 finale set a new piracy record and now at 18.5 million viewers is the second most watched HBO show in history. What does this mean for mass understandings of foreign policy? Maybe nothing. Maybe something.
Women’s Integration into Combat Stuck in a Physical Stalemate
Last week 60 Minutes ran a feature called Women in Combat: Cracking the Last All-Male Bastion of the US Military. The segment, led by David Martin, focused on Marine Infantry Officer training. He finds that, although the Marines are required to integrate women as a result of the removal of the...
Road to nowhere?
Roads. Who can be against them, right? They allow us to get from A-to-B. And as anyone who has been to a place where there were no roads can attest, their absence is a real impediment to the modern political economy. The construction of roads is thus a central feature of the international...
Belated ISA Recap: Norms in IR, Norm Violations in IR, Pop Culture in IR and Junior Scholar Panels
So I'm a wee bit late to the post-International Studies Association Annual Conference blogging ritual, but better than never right? Let me begin with a first-time experience for me at ISA that I truly enjoyed and highly recommend: participation on a Junior Scholar Symposium Panel. If you've never...
Skype Academic Interviews – What (Not) to Do
Hi all! File this post under "unsolicited advice from a newbie DGS." Here are my tips on how to not crash-and-burn on a Skype interview: Take a professional picture and make sure your Skype handle is professional – this might be the perfect time to set up an alternative, work-related Skype...
Comments Restored
Loyal, even devout, readers of the Duck may have noted somewhere along the way that comment streams of yore seemingly disappeared. That could be frustrating if you wanted to go back to an exchange you had with Duck contributors and enthusiasts. I'm happy to report that with the help of our web...
Reversing the Gun Sights, Revisited
In about a month, High Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons will again consider the humanitarian and ethical problems posed by fully autonomous lethal weapons. As I've written before, this issue in on the UN agenda due to a savvy and well-organized network...