Shakthi De Silva is a Non-Resident Vasey Fellow at Pacific Forum International (2023-24) and a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal Institute of Colombo and Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies where he teaches courses on International Relations. He previously served as a Lecturer at the University of Colombo (Sri Lanka) and as a Researcher for think tanks in the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His publications...
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Biden’s Africa Policy Trilemma
Ongoing instability in the Sahel – involving worsening insurgent violence, deepening great power competition, and frequent coups – is exposing weaknesses in U.S. Africa policy. In fact, three years into what U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called an “epidemic” of coups, the United States and its closest allies in the region still lack a coherent and coordinated strategy to defend democracy in Africa without sacrificing security...
Haleigh Bartos
Haleigh Bartos is an associate professor of the practice in CMIST at Carnegie Mellon University. She has 20 years of experience studying African security; she teaches courses on the region and national security at CMU, including Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa and In the News: Analysis of Current National Security Priorities.
John Chin
John Chin is an assistant teaching professor of political science in CMIST at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was previously a post-doctoral fellow. His research focuses on technologies of rebellion (coups d’état, self-coups, mass protest and nonviolent revolution, and assassinations), authoritarian politics, comparative democratization, and forecasting political instability. He is the lead author of an Historical Dictionary of Modern...
The beginning of the end for Netanyahu/the persistence of Israel-Saudi negotiations
This is just a short follow-up to my post yesterday with a few predictions. First about Netanyahu's future. Prior to Hamas' attack over the weekend, much discussion about Israel focused on the right-wing Netanyahu government, his continuing corruption trial, and his efforts to reduce the power of Israel's courts. For those who oppose Netanyahu, they fear he will emerge from this crisis strengthened. There are reasons to expect this. Hamas'...
Some just want to watch the world burn
During a pivotal scene in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne talks with his butler/confidante Alfred about The Joker. Wayne suggests he can make sense of The Joker's motivation as a first step towards stopping his rampage. Alfred tells a story about an operation from his paramilitary career, in which a bandit leader was stealing precious jewels the government had handed out and tossing them in a river. Alfred suggest this was...
What to expect at the upcoming climate negotiations?
A reporter asked me what we should expect from the upcoming climate negotiations, known as COP28, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates starting the end of November. This is my fairly off-the-cuff answer which may be somewhat pessimistic. I am more broadly optimistic that the clean energy transition is underway, though not at that pace required (yet) to stay below 2 degrees C of warming. If you think I'm off-base, please comment or...
Judging a book by its cover II
Part I here if you are interested On the day of German reunification anniversary I bring you the sequel to the post on the new Russian history book. Only, if you read this history book, you will not find the term "reunification" - it's reserved for Crimea and Donbas - instead, you will find a passage about Western Germany "annexing" the Eastern one. Believe it or not, it is actually a toned down version of another history textbook co-authored...
Jarrod Hayes
Professor Jarrod Hayes joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Jarrod was born in Colorado, but moved to Utah at a young age and grew up there for a bit before relocating with his mother to just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In high school, he found he enjoyed doing research especially with science and technology, and so he went to the University of Colorado to pursue a degree in Astrophysics. But at Colorado he also enjoyed studying International...
What If Trump was President When Russia Invaded Ukraine?
If Donald Trump was President of the United States when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, instead of Joe Biden, Trump’s personality would have led to a very different U.S. response. Trump would not have swiftly and strongly condemned Russia or clearly sided with Ukraine in the initial stages of the invasion, and he would not have brought together a multilateral front against Russia – as Biden did.
Kai Oppermann
Kai Oppermann is Professor of International Politics at the Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany. He has previously held positions at the University of Sussex, King’s College London and the University of Cologne. His research interests focus on the domestic sources of foreign policy and the role of narratives in international politics. His work has been published in journals such as European Journal of International Relations,...
Ryan Beasley
Ryan Beasley is a Senior Lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, specializing in Foreign Policy Theory and Political Psychology. His research focuses on time, role theory, dissonance, and group decision-making. He has published work in such journals as International Affairs, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, European Journal of International Relations, Political...