Institutions

The Syrian Civil War

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Over at the new Political Violence at a Glance blog, Barbara Walter and Elizabeth Martin address a question that I raised last week regarding the reluctance of policymakers to label the Syrian conflict a civil war. Walter and Martin raise three/four points in particular (I may be lumping something together here) to help explain this behavior, but I have a couple of further questions/comments. 

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Math’s PR Problem OR Changing our Educational System

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I was listening to the BBC's Global News Podast this morning and found an interesting segment on the utility of mathematical modeling. Professor John Adam's book (which can be found here) looks at how one can model various aspects of urban life—pollution, traffic congestion, number of dentists offices, etc. I've not read the book, but … Read more

NSF Funding Amendment, Part II

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Erik Voeten at the Monkey Cage with an update on the amendment that cuts NSF funding for political science programs. A version of the amendment passed the House with a vote of 218-208. You can see the breakdown of the votes here (thanks for Erik for so conveniently providing the link to the votes). Erik also … Read more

NSF Funding Amendment

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Via Henry Farrell at the Monkey Cage: Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona may today introduce an amendment to cut NSF funding for political science. Both APSA and Farrell call for folks to contact their representatives, and I will echo that call. I've benefitted enormously from NSF funding during my time in grad school and it funds … Read more

Libya Update (the sequal)

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Given the post from last week, I'm somewhat surprised that this has happened so fast.  There was some speculation that the scrapping of uniforms by Ghadaffi's soldiers meant that the battle into Tripoli would be a long and drawn out affair, as Ghadaffi loyalists geared up for more of an insurgency-style campaign against the rebels.  However, it's also possible that they were just ditching the uniforms so as to not get killed.  Either scenario is plausible, and the reality is probably a mixture of the two.  Anywho, I had just a couple of thoughts as to where we go from here.

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Stuff is still happening in (the sequel)…

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I really don't know how many times I'll be able to use that title, but given that the American audience has become so distracted by the Washington debt ceiling battle, I decided to check on some old favorites and post a quick update on goings on elsewhere.   Libya:  Apparently Libyan rebels have made "significant" … Read more

The Future of Political Science (summary, short discussion)

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I have mentioned, in a previous post, all of the books that fill up my summer reading list. As of now, I have at least one book completed and several more have been added to my list.  I have recently finished The Future of Political Science: 100 Perspectives, a collection of 100 short articles aimed at discussing what … Read more

Debt Ceiling

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This information comes from the Office of Management and Budget’s Historical Tables of the US Government’s budget.  Just some basic information on the debt ceiling that might put the current political wrangling into greater context.  I will add the usual disclaimer that this is not my usual playground, so if anyone catches any mistakes please … Read more

Aid to Pakistan II

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Apparently some US policymakers have decided to cut some of the US' aid to Pakistan.  I'll keep the commentary short on this one as I've already commented on the topic before at greater length.  I still have a suspicion that getting some distance between the US and Pakistan is not for the relationship's greater good—assuming … Read more

Update

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Between dissertating, data collection, and side projects, blogging has been pretty lite here lately.  I'll try to keep up with the occasional updates so as not to dissappoint our loyal reader… Protests continue in Syria. France drops arms to Libyan rebels.  What's particularly interesting about this event (a couple days old I admit) is the … Read more