Duck of Minerva
@duckofminerva.bsky.social
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Academic international relations/political science blog.
Rubioâs civilizational appeals will backfire US Secretary of State Marco Rubioâs speech at the Munich Security Conference demonstrated he is a better diplomat than Vice President J.D. Vance, although thatâs not much of a hurdle to clear. Where Vance gave a bullying lecture, Rubioâs speech focusedâŠ
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Rubioâs civilizational appeals will backfire
US Secretary of State Marco Rubioâs speech at the Munich Security Conference demonstrated he is a better diplomat than Vice President J.D. Vance, although thatâs not much of a hurdle to clear. Where Vance gave a bullying lecture, Rubioâs speech focused on emphasizing the importance of transatlantic ties and maintaining the US-European alliance. He argued the goal of this alliance, however, was to defend a common culture against the âthreatâ of immigration, raising concerns.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/02/rubios-civilizational-appeals-will-backfire.html
2 days ago
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âFair Tradeâ and the revenge against the âForeignerâ: From Chamberlain to Trump A century before Trumpâs tariff threats, Joseph Chamberlain pitched the same idea: use duties as a âbig revolverâ to force rivals into âfair trade.â That history helps explain why âunfairnessâ rhetoric and coerciveâŠ
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âFair Tradeâ and the revenge against the âForeignerâ: From Chamberlain to Trump
A century before Trumpâs tariff threats, Joseph Chamberlain pitched the same idea: use duties as a âbig revolverâ to force rivals into âfair trade.â That history helps explain why âunfairnessâ rhetoric and coercive foreign policy keep returning when hegemonic powers decline.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/fair-trade-and-the-revenge-against-the-foreigner-from-chamberlain-to-trump.html
21 days ago
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Whatâs with all the racism? Iâve been wanting to write this post for some time. But every week just brings more bad news. More terrible examples. In November last year, the Dutch government almost collapsed over racist remarks made by one of the coalition government ministers. December was witnessâŠ
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Whatâs with all the racism?
Iâve been wanting to write this post for some time. But every week just brings more bad news. More terrible examples. In November last year, the Dutch government almost collapsed over racist remarks made by one of the coalition government ministers. December was witness to the horrifying antisemitic attack at Bondi beach. President Donald Trump has called Somalis âgarbage.â
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/whats-with-all-the-racism.html
about 1 month ago
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An Accidental Academic: 20 Years Later This is my 20th year at the University of Texas. Although my dad was a university professor, I'm something of an accidental academic. I sought to get my PhD with the hopes of doing something more in terms of public service. I started off my PhD at GeorgetownâŠ
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An Accidental Academic: 20 Years Later
This is my 20th year at the University of Texas. Although my dad was a university professor, I'm something of an accidental academic. I sought to get my PhD with the hopes of doing something more in terms of public service. I started off my PhD at Georgetown inauspiciously. In the first week of school, I sat down with the legendary comparativist…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/an-accidental-academic-20-years-later.html
about 1 month ago
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How To Review Efficiently and Fairly Instead of Dry January, I'm going review free for January after having nearly 80 review requests last year. My New Year's resolution was to have a healthier relationships with reviewing, which had become a part-time, unpaid job (though I recognize that I'mâŠ
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How To Review Efficiently and Fairly
Instead of Dry January, I'm going review free for January after having nearly 80 review requests last year. My New Year's resolution was to have a healthier relationships with reviewing, which had become a part-time, unpaid job (though I recognize that I'm still coming from a place of privilege). Nevertheless, while I didn't accept all of those requests, I did more than 30 last year.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/how-to-review-efficiently-and-fairly.html
about 1 month ago
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Renee Goode and the limits of false terrorism charges On 7 January, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents opened fire on Renee Goode, killing her. To be honest, I wanted to write a post on just how sad and terrifying this murder was. How wrong it is that ICE agents are targetingâŠ
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Renee Goode and the limits of false terrorism charges
On 7 January, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents opened fire on Renee Goode, killing her. To be honest, I wanted to write a post on just how sad and terrifying this murder was. How wrong it is that ICE agents are targeting opposition-led cities and using brutal tactics against people suspected of being in the US illegally and protesters, including…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/renee-goode-and-the-limits-of-false-terrorism-charges.html
about 1 month ago
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Trump, US foreign policy and Venezuela: Aberration or Honesty? In my international relations classes, I encourage my students to not just express their (mostly negative) views of Trumpâs foreign policy. I also ask them to reflect on the extent to which Trumpâs actions are in line with the historyâŠ
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Trump, US foreign policy and Venezuela: Aberration or Honesty?
In my international relations classes, I encourage my students to not just express their (mostly negative) views of Trumpâs foreign policy. I also ask them to reflect on the extent to which Trumpâs actions are in line with the history of US foreign policy. Some see the United States as adhering to liberal international norms, with Trump a major break. Others argue the United States was always domineering and aggressive, so Trump shouldnât be much of a surprise.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/trump-us-foreign-policy-and-venezuela-aberration-or-honesty.html
about 2 months ago
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Is Peer Review Broken? Should Reviewers Be Paid? My New Year's resolution for 2026 is to somehow make peace with reviewing for journals. Something is amiss, at least for me, but perhaps it reveals a larger problem related to journal and book publishing. I kept a running tally of review requestsâŠ
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Is Peer Review Broken? Should Reviewers Be Paid?
My New Year's resolution for 2026 is to somehow make peace with reviewing for journals. Something is amiss, at least for me, but perhaps it reveals a larger problem related to journal and book publishing. I kept a running tally of review requests for 2025. Give or take some error, I had 79 review requests, which includes some R&Rs, book proposals, and a several full books.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2026/01/is-peer-review-broken-should-reviewers-be-paid.html
about 2 months ago
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Remembering Our Lost Colleagues I started this post sort of confessionally. It's been a while since I wrote on the blog. I had started one earlier this year on the destruction of USAID and PEPFAR but redirected my energy into advocacy (such as it was). One reason for my relative absence on theâŠ
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Remembering Our Lost Colleagues
I started this post sort of confessionally. It's been a while since I wrote on the blog. I had started one earlier this year on the destruction of USAID and PEPFAR but redirected my energy into advocacy (such as it was). One reason for my relative absence on the blog is government service. From 2021 to 2023, I was in the Biden Administration serving as a Senior Climate Advisor in the Department of Defense.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/12/remembering-our-lost-colleagues.html
2 months ago
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Farewell The Hayseed Scholar podcast has come to a close. In this farewell episode, Brent's brother Kyle hosts it and they chat about the podcast and why Brent is closing it down. Two friends of the pod, Matt McDonald and Jelena Subotic, also join to mention what they liked and what theyâŠ
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Farewell
The Hayseed Scholar podcast has come to a close. In this farewell episode, Brent's brother Kyle hosts it and they chat about the podcast and why Brent is closing it down. Two friends of the pod, Matt McDonald and Jelena Subotic, also join to mention what they liked and what they (Jelena) did not like about the podcast. Brent closes by asking Kyle, who is a LinkedIn rockstar, about the changing landscape of social media and reaching beyond an academic audience, before the two of them sign-off for good.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/12/farewell.html
2 months ago
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Can the news ever be impartial? Probably not, but the problem isn't impartiality it's the politics of impartiality On November 9th, the director general of The BBC, Tim Davie, along with the head of news, Deborah Turness, resigned. Their resignation was in response to a report published in theâŠ
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Can the news ever be impartial?
Probably not, but the problem isn't impartiality it's the politics of impartiality On November 9th, the director general of The BBC, Tim Davie, along with the head of news, Deborah Turness, resigned. Their resignation was in response to a report published in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, that claimed a BBC News programme, Panorama, edited a speech by President Donald Trump to make it appear as though he encouraged the Capital Riot.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/11/can-the-news-ever-be-impartial.html
3 months ago
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Here We Go Again: Why American Presidents Canât Resist Regime Change The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean is confusing the MAGA faithful. With rumors swirling of an imminent operation to topple Venezuelaâs Nicolas Maduro, the presidentâs supporters are asking what happened to âAmericaâŠ
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Here We Go Again: Why American Presidents Canât Resist Regime Change
The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean is confusing the MAGA faithful. With rumors swirling of an imminent operation to topple Venezuelaâs Nicolas Maduro, the presidentâs supporters are asking what happened to âAmerica Firstâ? Tucker Carlson recently remarked it was a âlittle strangeâ that the U.S. was telling another country, âwe donât like your leadership â leave or weâll kill you.â Trumpâs former chief strategist, …
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/11/here-we-go-again-why-american-presidents-cant-resist-regime-change.html
3 months ago
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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 â if he deemed it necessary â launch a military attack against insurgents in the country. As NationalâŠ
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Bullies, Follies, and Decadent Orders: Constructing Nigeria as a Country of Particular ConcernÂ
On November 1, 2025, President Donald Trump threatened to end all U.S. assistance to Nigeria and â if he deemed it necessary â launch a military attack against insurgents in the country. As National Public Radio reported: âIf the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, âguns-a-blazing,â to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,â Trump posted on social media.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/11/bullies-follies-and-decadent-orders-constructing-nigeria-as-a-country-of-particular-concern.html
3 months ago
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Exploring the Meaning of Responsibility Iâve been thinking a lot about the meaning of âresponsibility,â specifically in the context of politics and governance. We live in an age of populism, rising authoritarianism, disinformation, climate change, and the slaughter of civilians in places like GazaâŠ
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Exploring the Meaning of Responsibility
Iâve been thinking a lot about the meaning of âresponsibility,â specifically in the context of politics and governance. We live in an age of populism, rising authoritarianism, disinformation, climate change, and the slaughter of civilians in places like Gaza and Sudan. The notions of responsibility associated with the so-called âliberal international orderâ are all under strain. Most of us, I think, rely on a kind of â
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/11/exploring-the-meaning-of-responsibility.html
3 months ago
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Nuclear apocalypse now? Reflections on the movie âHouse of Dynamiteâ I had high hopes for director Kathryn Bigelowâs House of Dynamite, a new Netflix movie about U.S. nuclear command and control. Thereâs so much potential for cinema to unpack the dilemmas and tragedies of living under a nuclearâŠ
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Nuclear apocalypse now? Reflections on the movie âHouse of Dynamiteâ
I had high hopes for director Kathryn Bigelowâs House of Dynamite, a new Netflix movie about U.S. nuclear command and control. Thereâs so much potential for cinema to unpack the dilemmas and tragedies of living under a nuclear sword of Damocles, and my initial reaction was disappointment at the ways this fails to be that movie. But for all its shortcomings, the film also serves as a sobering reminder of the profound peril nuclear weapons entail.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/11/nuclear-apocalypse-now-reflections-on-the-movie-house-of-dynamite.html
4 months ago
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6+1 Questions About âThe Social Construction of Christian Persecution through Quantification in International Religious Freedom Advocacyâ What is the name of the journal article (or book) and what are its coordinates? Miray Philips. 2025. âThe Social Construction of Christian Persecution throughâŠ
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6+1 Questions About âThe Social Construction of Christian Persecution through Quantification in International Religious Freedom Advocacyâ
What is the name of the journal article (or book) and what are its coordinates? Miray Philips. 2025. âThe Social Construction of Christian Persecution through Quantification in International Religious Freedom Advocacy.â Sociology of Religion. 2. Whatâs the argument? In Washington, DC, International Religious Freedom advocates mostly rely on data by the Pew Research Center on religious restrictions and Open Doors on Christian persecution.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/10/61-questions-about-the-social-construction-of-christian-persecution-through-quantification-in-international-religious-freedom-advocacy.html
4 months ago
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Ceasefire NOW (but not *now*) After years of calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire was recently announced andâŠthose calling for the ceasefire are upset about it. There are some valid reasons to hold off on celebrating, but I worry this represents a deeper issue with how we conceive of peaceâŠ
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Ceasefire NOW (but not *now*)
After years of calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire was recently announced andâŠthose calling for the ceasefire are upset about it. There are some valid reasons to hold off on celebrating, but I worry this represents a deeper issue with how we conceive of peace and how we study the Middle East. And this will only hurt the Palestinians these voices claim to champion.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/10/ceasefire-now-but-not-now.html
4 months ago
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Antisemitism, Israel and the Problem with no Easy Solution Debates about Israel and Palestine have, as one scholar remarked to me, become the âthird railâ in British academia. That needs to change. The terror attack in Manchester makes clear that UK academics must engage in a public, thoughtful,âŠ
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Antisemitism, Israel and the Problem with no Easy Solution
Debates about Israel and Palestine have, as one scholar remarked to me, become the âthird railâ in British academia. That needs to change. The terror attack in Manchester makes clear that UK academics must engage in a public, thoughtful, and careful discussion about Jews, Israel and Palestine. On October 2nd, 2025 â on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur â a Synagogue in Manchester was attacked in what has been officially labelled a…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/10/antisemitism-israel-and-the-problem-with-no-easy-solution.html
4 months ago
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The Mirage of Great-Power Competition Photo by Dave Photoz on Unsplash Back in March, I wrote a post at Lawyers, Guns and Money called âRemember âGreat Power Competition?â Lol.â As the âGrand Strategyâ of Trump 2.0 comes into focus, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit and update it. InâŠ
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The Mirage of Great-Power Competition
Photo by Dave Photoz on Unsplash Back in March, I wrote a post at Lawyers, Guns and Money called âRemember âGreat Power Competition?â Lol.â As the âGrand Strategyâ of Trump 2.0 comes into focus, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit and update it. In brief, the normie national-security advisors who dominated the first Trump administration needed a way to make Trumpâs semi-coherent ramblings legible to the global foreign-policy community.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/10/the-mirage-of-great-power-competition.html
5 months ago
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The State of the Union is Grim The Republic as we knew it is over. The fight now is whether the new one will be a fascistic, competitive authoritarian regime or a pluralist democracy that, one hopes, is better than what came before.
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The State of the Union is Grim
The Republic as we knew it is over. The fight now is whether the new one will be a fascistic, competitive authoritarian regime or a pluralist democracy that, one hopes, is better than what came before.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/10/the-state-of-the-union-is-grim.html
5 months ago
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6+1 Questions about American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War and the Making of US Foreign Policy Whatâs the name of the book, and where can we find it? American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War and the Making of US Foreign Policy (Stanford University Press, 2025). Whatâs the argument?âŠ
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6+1 Questions about American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War and the Making of US Foreign Policy
Whatâs the name of the book, and where can we find it? American Conquest: The Northwest Indian War and the Making of US Foreign Policy (Stanford University Press, 2025). Whatâs the argument? Relations with Native American groups were constitutive of early U.S. foreign policy, and this should make us reconsider the notion that the United States was isolationist in this period.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/09/61-questions-about-american-conquest-the-northwest-indian-war-and-the-making-of-us-foreign-policy.html
5 months ago
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Will the recognition of Palestine matter? What IR scholarship says The UN General Assembly meeting has seen a growing number of states recognizing a state of Palestine, including Western powers like France, the United Kingdom and Canada. Debate has swirled over why they are doing this: is it aâŠ
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Will the recognition of Palestine matter? What IR scholarship says
The UN General Assembly meeting has seen a growing number of states recognizing a state of Palestine, including Western powers like France, the United Kingdom and Canada. Debate has swirled over why they are doing this: is it a principled stand, an attempt to gain international or domestic clout, etc.? But there's a bigger question over whether this matters and when it may matter: that is, at what point does the informal recognition of an entity as a state lead to actual changes in international relations?
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/09/will-the-recognition-of-palestine-matter-what-ir-scholarship-says.html
5 months ago
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Trumpâs Foreign Policy and the Purpose of the MAGAÂ State How can we understand Tump 2.0 foreign policy? It's the product of the fusion of two different forces: Christian Nationalism and Personalist Rent-Extraction.
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Trumpâs Foreign Policy and the Purpose of the MAGAÂ State
How can we understand Tump 2.0 foreign policy? It's the product of the fusion of two different forces: Christian Nationalism and Personalist Rent-Extraction.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/09/trumps-foreign-policy-and-the-purpose-of-the-maga-state.html
5 months ago
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How do we think about 9/11 in 2025? I used to feel compelled to write something on 9/11. Some of this was just to participate in the discourse, some out of fear that failure to do so would mean moving on and forgetting. In 2009--back when I provided free labor for The Huffington Post--I wrote thisâŠ
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How do we think about 9/11 in 2025?
I used to feel compelled to write something on 9/11. Some of this was just to participate in the discourse, some out of fear that failure to do so would mean moving on and forgetting. In 2009--back when I provided free labor for The Huffington Post--I wrote this on the shadowy but still serious threat posed by al-Qaeda. More recently, I wrote this on the failure of security studies to…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/09/how-do-we-think-about-9-11-in-2025.html
5 months ago
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Benjamin de Carvalho Dr. Benjamin de Carvalho joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Ben was born in Switzerland to a mother from Norway and a father from Brazil. Ben talks about how that transpired, growing up in Norway, and how a Fulbright brought him to the United States in the late 90's. BenâŠ
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Benjamin de Carvalho
Dr. Benjamin de Carvalho joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Ben was born in Switzerland to a mother from Norway and a father from Brazil. Ben talks about how that transpired, growing up in Norway, and how a Fulbright brought him to the United States in the late 90's. Ben recounts his time at the New School for his first Master's, moving to Cambridge for his M.Phil and PhD, and ending back in Norway at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, or NUPI, where he remains gainfully and happily employed, and thriving, to this day.Â
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/09/benjamin-de-carvalho.html
6 months ago
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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 artificial intelligence (âAIâ) into the classroom. âAI is going to revolutionize higher education!â âPrepare your students for the AI-driven job market!â "Resistance isâŠ
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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 artificial intelligence (âAIâ) into the classroom. âAI is going to revolutionize higher education!â âPrepare your students for the AI-driven job market!â "Resistance is futile!" âSign up for our workshop!â Despite being bombarded with such messages hyping âAIâ (around which I will keep using scare quotes), it remains unclear to me that there is much to gain from bringing âAIâ into my Political Science classrooms.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/08/who-wants-ai-in-the-classroom.html
6 months ago
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6+1 Questions about âThe U.S.: A (Mostly) Hands-Off Superpowerâ Drew Hogan answers 6+1 questions about how the United States does, and does not, support its overseas citizens.
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6+1 Questions about âThe U.S.: A (Mostly) Hands-Off Superpowerâ
Drew Hogan answers 6+1 questions about how the United States does, and does not, support its overseas citizens.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/08/61-questions-about-the-u-s-a-mostly-hands-off-superpower.html
6 months ago
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Is there a strategy behind Rubioâs State Department cuts? The foreign policy world is still making sense of the Trump Administration's massive cuts to the US State Department last week. Under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nearly 1500 employees--most of them civil servants--lose their jobs. InâŠ
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Is there a strategy behind Rubioâs State Department cuts?
The foreign policy world is still making sense of the Trump Administration's massive cuts to the US State Department last week. Under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nearly 1500 employees--most of them civil servants--lose their jobs. In some ways, this isn't surprising, as Trump began his second term with a massive, Elon Musk-led, gutting of the federal workforce. But it's still catching some by surprise, given Rubio's reported…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/07/is-there-a-strategy-behind-rubios-state-department-cuts.html
7 months ago
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After Anarchy? On Hierarchy, Heterarchy, and Multiplicity Kenneth Waltz famously claimed that anarchyâi.e., the absence of a global sovereignâis the ordering principle of world politics, and much International Relations (IR) scholarship since then has aimed to debunk the claim that anarchy definesâŠ
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After Anarchy? On Hierarchy, Heterarchy, and Multiplicity
Kenneth Waltz famously claimed that anarchyâi.e., the absence of a global sovereignâis the ordering principle of world politics, and much International Relations (IR) scholarship since then has aimed to debunk the claim that anarchy defines IR as a subject. Today, some aim to do so by offering new conceptual foundations for IR. This post is not a relitigation of the â
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/06/after-anarchy-on-hierarchy-heterarchy-and-multiplicity.html
8 months ago
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Why have so many Muslim communities embraced radicalism? Over two decades have passed since the horrifying 9/11 attacks. Do we have a consensus understanding of the radicalization process in communities that supported or filled the ranks of jihadist groups, including the likes of al-Qaeda, theâŠ
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Why have so many Muslim communities embraced radicalism?
Over two decades have passed since the horrifying 9/11 attacks. Do we have a consensus understanding of the radicalization process in communities that supported or filled the ranks of jihadist groups, including the likes of al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Hamas, and the Taliban? The answer (see also here) is a resounding no! As more political science scholars conduct terrorism research than scholars from any other discipline, they have a vested interest in getting this phenomenon right and helping to frame policies that effectively address the threats.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/06/why-have-so-many-muslim-communities-embraced-radicalism.html
8 months ago
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Whatâs the Matter with Soft Power? I dislike the term âsoft power.â We owe the term to the late, great Joseph Nye. He popularized it in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead. Nyeâs book was, first and foremost, an intervention in the âdeclinismâ debates of the later 1980s. Japan was at the peak of itsâŠ
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Whatâs the Matter with Soft Power?
I dislike the term âsoft power.â We owe the term to the late, great Joseph Nye. He popularized it in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead. Nyeâs book was, first and foremost, an intervention in the âdeclinismâ debates of the later 1980s. Japan was at the peak of its influence; some projected that its economy would overtake that of the United States by the early 2000s.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/06/whats-the-matter-with-soft-power.html
9 months ago
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Resisting a narrative on Israel and antisemitism I've had four potential posts on Israel, anti-Israel actions and antisemitism this week. As new events occur, the old post falls to the wayside. I was stuck on whether I should pick one, or try to weave the events together into some kind ofâŠ
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Resisting a narrative on Israel and antisemitism
I've had four potential posts on Israel, anti-Israel actions and antisemitism this week. As new events occur, the old post falls to the wayside. I was stuck on whether I should pick one, or try to weave the events together into some kind of narrative and draw conclusions. I've decided I can't, or don't want to, do either. And I wonder how much of the morass Israel-Palestine discourse feels stuck in is due to our compulsion to create such a narrative.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/05/resisting-a-narrative-on-israel-and-antisemitism.html
9 months ago
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Probiotic disinformation âJust when I thought I was out, they pull me back inâ is something I would say at the risk of alienating the younger readership of this blog, but given that most of us are old here, it should be fine. I have been busy working on Russian Neo-Nazis, so I almost forgot thatâŠ
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Probiotic disinformation
âJust when I thought I was out, they pull me back inâ is something I would say at the risk of alienating the younger readership of this blog, but given that most of us are old here, it should be fine. I have been busy working on Russian Neo-Nazis, so I almost forgot that back in the simpler times I was also interested in how…
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/05/probiotic-disinformation.html
10 months ago
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The Vaticanâs Quiet Intelligence Legacy and Why It Matters Now On Easter Monday, Pope Francis died at the age of 88. His passing marked the end of a 12-year papacy characterized by a commitment to the poor, an insistence on peace over posturing, and an often-controversial emphasis on mercy overâŠ
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The Vaticanâs Quiet Intelligence Legacy and Why It Matters Now
On Easter Monday, Pope Francis died at the age of 88. His passing marked the end of a 12-year papacy characterized by a commitment to the poor, an insistence on peace over posturing, and an often-controversial emphasis on mercy over rules. As white smoke issues from the Vatican--indicating a new pope has been chosen--most commentary has focused on familiar terrain: his views on women, LGBTQ+ rights, his political moderation, his Latin American identity, or his climate advocacy.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/05/the-vaticans-quiet-intelligence-legacy-and-why-it-matters-now.html
10 months ago
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The frustrating wisdom of Pope Francisâs international mediation I was born a proud Protestant. A Lutheran in a town still marked by Catholic-Protestant tensions, with Catholic friends who told me I don't worship right, neighbors who claimed Catholics were polytheists, and a grandmother who woreâŠ
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The frustrating wisdom of Pope Francisâs international mediation
I was born a proud Protestant. A Lutheran in a town still marked by Catholic-Protestant tensions, with Catholic friends who told me I don't worship right, neighbors who claimed Catholics were polytheists, and a grandmother who wore orange on St. Patrick's Day (I never quite got that, as we had no connection to Ireland). But I also felt drawn to the Roman Catholic church.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/04/the-frustrating-wisdom-of-pope-franciss-international-mediation.html
10 months ago
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Unreal climate ârealismâ Itâs hard to keep track of the problems confronting Americans these days. But, just in case a reminder is needed, climate change is still a thing. Casual observers may have noted that US climate policy has beenâŠunderwhelming, see-sawing between âBuild Back BetterââŠ
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Unreal climate ârealismâ
Itâs hard to keep track of the problems confronting Americans these days. But, just in case a reminder is needed, climate change is still a thing. Casual observers may have noted that US climate policy has beenâŠunderwhelming, see-sawing between âBuild Back Betterâ aspirations and climate denialism. Now climate policy wunderkind Varun Sivaram has called for a rethink on US climate (foreign) policy.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/04/unreal-climate-realism.html
11 months ago
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Big Man, Big Heart This a crosspost from Saideman's Semi-Spew. This week, we found out that Brandon Valeriano died. It is quite gutting as he had such a terrific spirit, and he was too damned young. Brandon stood out from the crowd at all the conferences as he was literally bigger than most of us,âŠ
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Big Man, Big Heart
This a crosspost from Saideman's Semi-Spew. This week, we found out that Brandon Valeriano died. It is quite gutting as he had such a terrific spirit, and he was too damned young. Brandon stood out from the crowd at all the conferences as he was literally bigger than most of us, and he was also one of the very few Latinos in the field of IR.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/03/big-man-big-heart.html
11 months ago
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So much for âGreat Power Competitionâ The buzzword of the first Trump administration was "Great Power Competition." That was also a lie.
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So much for âGreat Power Competitionâ
The buzzword of the first Trump administration was "Great Power Competition." That was also a lie.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2025/03/so-much-for-great-power-competition.html
12 months ago
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reposted by
Duck of Minerva
Ben Francis
about 1 year ago
Check it out: States sometimes unhelpfully instrumentalise their climate pledges as foreign policy documents. A piece I wrote on this phenomenon with my colleague Bill Kakenmaster has just been published on
@duckofminerva.bsky.social
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/12/clim...
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Climate Pledges as Vehicles for Political Posturing
Under the Paris Agreement, states submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) outlining their commitments to reducing emissions. These documents are important window in the international poliâŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/12/climate-pledges-as-vehicles-for-political-posturing.html
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reposted by
Duck of Minerva
Dan Nexon
about 1 year ago
Thoughtful post by
@pehenne.bsky.social
at
@duckofminerva.bsky.social
"If Assad fell so quickly now, after having 10 years to recover from the initial shock of the protests, would he have fallen equally quickly back then? And if so, were skeptics of intervention wrong?"
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Does this mean Assad would have fallen ten years ago?
Like many who follow the Middle East, a lot has been going through my head since the civil war there suddenly reignited and Bashar al-Assadâs regime even more suddenly fell. Will the victims âŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/12/does-this-mean-assad-would-have-fallen-ten-years-ago.html
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In our most recent post
@pehenne.bsky.social
writes about terrorist attacks in Ankara, Turkey from earlier in the fall.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/10/who-...
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Who is behind the terrorist attack in Ankara?
On October 23rd, militants attacked a Turkish aerospace facility near the capital of Ankara. The Turkish government blamed the Kurdistan Workersâ Party (PKK)âa Kurdish insurgent group&#âŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/10/who-is-behind-the-terrorist-attack-in-ankara.html
about 1 year ago
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We haven't posted much lately but will resume posting from our wider blog more frequently.
about 1 year ago
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The fifth in our series of remembrances on the late Susan Sell. This one from Maria Rost Rublee.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/04/susa...
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Susan Sell: The Power of Mentorship and Example
This is the fifth in our series of remembrances on the late Susan Sell. There was a terrific gathering at ISA 2024 where friends and colleagues gathered to remember Susanâs wit, her contributâŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/04/susan-sell-the-power-of-mentorship-and-example.html
almost 2 years ago
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reposted by
Duck of Minerva
Maryam Deloffre
about 2 years ago
It was really difficult for me to write this. Putting it into words makes it feel more real. Susan Sell was a remarkable scholar and human being.
add a skeleton here at some point
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The fourth in our series of remembrances of Susan Sell. This one from Maryam Deloffre.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/susa...
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Susan Sell: Speaking Truth to Power
This is the fourth post in our series of remembrances on the late Susan Sell. Susan and I were both conducting research in Geneva in the summer of 2022, she was at the World Trade Organization, andâŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/susan-sell-speaking-truth-to-power.html
about 2 years ago
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The third in our series of remembrances of Susan Sell. This one from Joseph O'Mahoney.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/susa...
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Susan Sell: A World Class Scholar and Human Being
This is the third in our series of remembrances on the late scholar Susan Sell. Professor Susan Sell was a world class scholar. But even though one of the papers she wrote (about using ideas âŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/susan-sell-a-world-class-scholar-and-human-being.html
about 2 years ago
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The second in our series of remembrances on Susan Sell. This one from Blayne Haggart.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/reme...
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Remembering Susan Sell
This is the second in our series of remembrances on the late scholar Susan Sell. Since I learned of Susanâs untimely passing on Christmas Eve, Iâve been trying to articulate exactly how important ...
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/remembering-susan-sell.html
about 2 years ago
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Kerry F. Crawford's remembrance of the late Susan Sell is up. The first in a series.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/live...
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Live. What are you waiting for? A reflection on Susan Sellâs influence.
This is the first in a series of remembrances on life and career of the late Susan Sell. When I think about Susan Sell, I think about a life lived unapologetically, beautifully, and gratefully. I tâŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/live-what-are-you-waiting-for-a-reflection-on-susan-sells-influence.html
about 2 years ago
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New post from Davis Ellison.
www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/iden...
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Identity Politics and the Orthodoxies of the National Security Policy Community
In 2015, Linus Hagström, a professor of political science at the Swedish Defence University, questioned the wisdom of Sweden joining NATO in a coauthored opinion piece. After its publicatâŠ
https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/01/identity-politics-and-the-orthodoxies-of-the-national-security-policy-community.html
about 2 years ago
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International relations scholars. If you have something to say, want to do an explainer, what have you, we are open for guest submissions.
www.duckofminerva.com/contribute
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Contribute
Visit the post for more.
https://www.duckofminerva.com/contribute
about 2 years ago
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