So I've been in Samoa for a semester now, working with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and getting things in order to do dissertation fieldwork. I'll probably post again before the end of the year, but here are a few key themes that have emerged in conversation as I've developed relationships with my … Continue reading Samoa Post: End of semester observations
Politics
Social Network Analysis: A cool analysis of how SNA worked during the American Revolution
Lots of people saw Kieran Healy's humorous and thought proviking post about how some very basic matrix algebra and centrality analysis can be used to identify people within social networks using basic metadata. This article by Shin Kap Han goes into more depth about centrality and the power of weak bonds; I found the analysis of the … Continue reading Social Network Analysis: A cool analysis of how SNA worked during the American Revolution
Disaggregating Peacekeeping Data: A new dataset on peacekeeping contributions
Jacob Kathman at the University of Buffalo has an article in the current issue of Conflict Management and Peace Science about his new dataset on the numbers and nationalities of all peacekeeper contributions by month since 1990. This is a pretty fantastic undertaking since peacekeeping data is often difficult to find, and no small feat … Continue reading Disaggregating Peacekeeping Data: A new dataset on peacekeeping contributions
Syria Update
Yesterday I mentioned the need to be transparent with our intelligence on chemical weapons use in Syria if we wanted to take the moral high ground. Today I read the release outlining the U.S. intelligence findings on the attack. The Huffington Post linked to this, along with a quote from Secretary of State Kerry that … Continue reading Syria Update
Getting traction in the United Nations on Syria
As I've been following story of the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and the resulting moves to prepare for military strikes, I've felt like the U.N. has been an under-utilized resource for dealing with the crisis. A few friends mention that President Obama's 'red line' could be defined as something other than a military strike, … Continue reading Getting traction in the United Nations on Syria
Matrix Math and Paul Revere
This week has been a rather stat oriented week of posts. I blame this on the fact that political economy and peacekeeping has been dominating my official academic life in the form of a comprehensive exam. The silver lining is that I will soon have political economy and peacekeeping content galore. To keep everyone entertained this … Continue reading Matrix Math and Paul Revere
Complex Peacekeeping and Tech: Don’t forget the politics and the people
General H.R. McMaster recently published an op-ed in the New York Times on the folly of thinking war can be easily won, and the intellectual gymnastics policy makers will do to maintain that illusion. As I read his analysis, many of his observations are germane when thinking about the drive to "tech-up" peacekeeping operations. McMaster's … Continue reading Complex Peacekeeping and Tech: Don’t forget the politics and the people
China to United States: We’ll see your “investment” and raise you a peacekeeping deployment
How apropos that my last post was focused on why the United States needs to think of investment in Africa in terms larger than ROI, especially if we want to compete with China. Apparently China got the memo, since they're committing to send a multi-dimensional peacekeeping force to support the MINUSMA mission in Mali that … Continue reading China to United States: We’ll see your “investment” and raise you a peacekeeping deployment
Obama in Africa: Too much talk about ‘investment’, not enough about political economy
Obama is touring Africa, and all the talk has been about how this is meant to lay the stage for an increased American effort to invest across the continent. More specifically, it is investment and business development that is meant to counter the weight of China's interests in Africa. But there needs to be more … Continue reading Obama in Africa: Too much talk about ‘investment’, not enough about political economy
My TechChange Swan Song
Cross posted from the TechChange blog This past Thursday and Friday (May 8 & 9) I participated in the ICTs and Violence Prevention workshop hosted by the World Bank’s Social Development Office. We had an excellent collection of experts from across academia, NGOs, and government who discussed the complexities of using technology for violence prevention. One … Continue reading My TechChange Swan Song
Charles P. Martin-Shields 