African Politics and International Relations
Posted in Africa Notes, African Politics, Economic Development, International Relations on Apr 25th, 2012
There has been some interesting online commentary on intra-regional trade in Africa. Trade between African states may be increasing. It is commonly observed that trade between African states is below what is typically seen in other regions of the world. However, as noted over at tralac, this might be changing. They quote Aileen Kwa: In [...]
Posted in Africa Notes, International Relations, IPE on Apr 25th, 2012
The BRICS have been very active in recent weeks. The significance of an alliance of Brazil, India, and China is not lost on many. But occasionally some have wondered whether Russia deserves to be in the group and South Africa’s entry last year raised a few eyebrows (and still does). The Summit Their summit in [...]
Posted in International Relations, Noted, Notes, Research Notes on Mar 18th, 2012
KOF Index of Globalization. This might be useful. They describe their data: The KOF Index of Globalization measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic social and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, we calculate an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows economic restrictions data on information [...]
Posted in African Politics, General, International Relations on Aug 25th, 2011
I can tell the academic year is approaching partly because the academic blogosphere seems to be getting busier. Or perhaps I am just starting to pay more attention again. My Wesleyan colleague, Erica Chenoweth, has been making some fantastic posts in her new blog, Rational Insurgents. Chris Blattman has an interesting piece on an experiment [...]
Posted in International Relations on Mar 15th, 2011
Give Peaceful Resistance a Chance – NYTimes.com. I especially like the last lines: The good guys don’t always win, but their chances increase greatly when they play their cards well. Nonviolent resistance is about finding and exploiting points of leverage in one’s own society. Every dictatorship has vulnerabilities, and every society can find them.
Posted in African Politics, General, International Relations on Oct 20th, 2010
WESeminar: Youth at War, Youth Building Peace, Youth on the Margins As the next generation of leaders, young people are key players in creating sustainable peace in areas torn apart by war. In conflict zones youth constitute a reservoir brimming with potential energy, ready to be channeled for good or ill. Yet, what causes some [...]
Posted in African Politics, International Organizations, International Relations, IPE, Noted on Aug 26th, 2010
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been central to my research agenda for a long time now. I am currently in the process of completing a book manuscript that examines African participation and influence in global economic governance. I begin with the assumption that they have to work through coalitions, and then proceed to consider [...]
Posted in Economic Development, International Relations on Aug 5th, 2010
David K. Leonard, Jennifer N. Brass, Michael Nelson, Sophal Ear, Dan Fahey, Tasha Fairfield, Martha Johnson Gning, Michael Halderman, Brendan McSherry, Devra C. Moehler, Wilson Prichard, Robin Turner, Tuong Vu, Jeroen Dijkman. 2010. “Does Patronage Still Drive Politics for the Rural Poor in the Developing World? A Comparative Perspective from the Livestock Sector.” Development and [...]
Posted in Economic Development, Environmental Politics, International Law, International Organizations, International Relations, Noted on Aug 4th, 2010
A friend from my Peace Corps days posted on Facebook the UN press release that the General Assembly has adopted a resolution “Recognizing Access to Clean Water, Sanitation as Human Right, By Recorded Vote of 122 in Favour, None Against, 41 Abstentions.” This isn’t exactly getting major press coverage. And, indeed, just because the UN [...]
Posted in African Politics, International Relations, Noted on Aug 3rd, 2010
A little over a week ago, a French raid in Algeria to free an aid worker, Michael Germaneau, failed. He was already dead, and perhaps even dead before they got there. Global Voices had a nice roundup of some of the African sources on this raid, one of which cited the quote I used for [...]
Office Hours:
International Law Course