I could not pass up this article posted on The Monkey Cage yesterday. Hulsman and Mitchell use the movie The Godfather as an analogy for post-9/11 America and each one of the Vito’s potential heirs represents a different theoretical path for America.
The article is an interesting treatment of the subject, though not entirely novel. My advisor, for example, has assigned it in the past as intro to international relations course to dissect these similar themes. However, it is good to have it as a formal analysis of the topic and offers a decent bridge between popular media and academic theories; hopefully ,it won’t give away too many answers for potential students.
Michael A. Allen is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University. His research focuses on international conflict, military alliances, and quantitative methods in international relations and comparative politics.