All posts by Zoe Williams

Links: The Bad News Edition

Some of us our on our way to the ISA conference today, leaving behind cold, still slightly snowy Berlin for California, while others remain, trying to remember what the sun looks like. So, to go along with the weather, here is a roundup of fairly bad, IR related news:

Live in the EU? You might be one of the 19.07 million people currently without a job according to the latest Eurostats.

Feeling smug because you’ve got a stipend (or you’re not European) so don’t have to worry about being jobless for at least a few more years? Don’t get too comfortable. Despite our earlier hopes, the US Senate has passed an amendment that prohibits the NSF from funding any work that does not promote the “national security or the economic interests of the United States”.

Not everyone thinks this is a bad idea, however. Whether you agree or disagree, it’s certainly a debate we should be having (and one that Joseph Nye weighed in on back in 2009).
Continue reading Links: The Bad News Edition

PhD Pitch #2: My Thesis as a Choose Your Own Adventure Book

Choose your own

Chapter 1: You are a developing country. Post-decolonization, your economy is based on unprocessed commodities, but you would like to increase domestic manufacturing and improve infrastructure. What do you do? If you want to go it alone, go to Chapter 2. If you want some outside help, go to Chapter 3.

Continue reading PhD Pitch #2: My Thesis as a Choose Your Own Adventure Book

Hugo Chavez Dies: What’s Next for Venezuela and the Region?

After almost two years battling cancer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died yesterday, March 5.

In the wake of his death, the general consensus seems to be that there is no consensus. The Venezuelan leader’s legacy is divisive, with vehement supporters and detractors at home and abroad, a situation reflected in both English and Spanish coverage. (And, for a longer, relatively unusual pro-Chavez analysis in English here and here)
Continue reading Hugo Chavez Dies: What’s Next for Venezuela and the Region?

Welcome to the International Relations blog!

Here we’ll do our best to cover three perspectives on international relations:

  1. Showcasing and discussing our own and other people’s current RESEARCH
  2. Commentary on political WORLD EVENTS, ideally linking IR theory to empirics
  3. Junior scholars’ everyday experiences, i.e. the ups and downs of GRAD LIFE

IR Blog is a collaborative project. We’re still looking for (and will continue to welcome) new contributors. So far, the team mainly consists of PhD candidates and post-docs based in Berlin (Germany), but this selection is based on convenience, not principle.

So, again, welcome everybody and have fun!

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