Academic Writing

Representative Ted Lieu in Defense of Global Justice

Author(s): 
Beth Van Schaack
Publication Date: 
July 31, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing

As mentioned last week by Jane Stromseth in her terrific post “Why the U.S. needs the Office of Global Criminal Justice Led by a Senate-Confirmed Ambassador-at-Large,” the intrepid Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) has been circulating a petition among members of Congress in defense of the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice. Read more about Representative Ted Lieu in Defense of Global Justice

Why cyberattacks could be war crimes

Author(s): 
Patrick Lin
Publication Date: 
July 17, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing
Cyberattacks are the new normal, but, when they come from abroad, they can raise panic about an invisible cyberwar. If international conflicts are unavoidable, isn’t a cyberwar better than a physical war with bombs and bullets?
 
Sure, cyberwar is better than a kinetic or physical war in many ways, but it could also make war worse. Unless it’s very carefully designed, a cyberattack could be a war crime.
 

Trump has no long-term foreign policy vision. Here’s how that’s hurting America

Author(s): 
Henry Farrell
Publication Date: 
July 17, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing

Thomas Wright is the director of the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe, and a senior fellow at Brookings. His new book, “All Measures Short of War: The Contest For the 21st Century and the Future of American Power,” looks at the prospects for the United States in a world where other countries are increasingly disaffected from the global order that America built. I interviewed him about his book by email. Read more about Trump has no long-term foreign policy vision. Here’s how that’s hurting America

State Dept. Office of Global Criminal Justice on the Chopping Block–Time to save it

Author(s): 
Beth Van Schaack
Publication Date: 
July 17, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing

Word out of Washington is that the Trump Administration has started to restructure the State Department and particularly the Under-Secretariat for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights.  “J” (as it is called around Foggy Bottom) encompasses a number of Bureaus and Offices, including the Bureau of Counter-Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CT/CVE), the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), and the Office to Monitor and Read more about State Dept. Office of Global Criminal Justice on the Chopping Block–Time to save it

Even the intellectual left is drawn to conspiracy theories about the right. Resist them.

Author(s): 
Henry Farrell
Publication Date: 
July 14, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing
It’s always hard in politics for people to take their opponents’ views seriously, but it has become ever harder in Trump’s America. People are more engaged with politics, but only because they want to beat the other side, not understand it. This means scholars have a greater responsibility than ever to help ordinary citizens understand how the people with whom they disagree think, and what their political opponents are actually doing.
 

Autonomous Navigation: How To Drive Neighborhoods Crazy

Author(s): 
Patrick Lin
Publication Date: 
July 12, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing

In the first of this two-article series, we saw how augmented reality (AR) is causing friction between individual liberty and public interest.  AR appmakers are being required by some parks to obtain a permit before they can “put” virtual objects in those public spaces, given the sudden crowds the apps can cause.

This article looks at the same core dilemma with another technology: automated driving. Read more about Autonomous Navigation: How To Drive Neighborhoods Crazy

Most of what you think you know about human reasoning is wrong. Here’s why.

Author(s): 
Henry Farrell
Publication Date: 
July 12, 2017
Publication Type: 
Other Writing

Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber are the authors of “The Enigma of Reason,” a new book from Harvard University Press. Their arguments about human reasoning have potentially profound implications for how we understand the ways human beings think and argue, and for the social sciences. I interviewed Mercier about the book. Read more about Most of what you think you know about human reasoning is wrong. Here’s why.

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