Bamberg and the Humboldts
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
4d ago
 No, not a rock band, but my past few days of hanging out with super-smart folks and the folks who fund them and me.  The Humboldt Foundation held a meeting for awardees, which involved lots of Franconian food (oh my), several amazing lectures, and meeting these folks.  It is held in Bamberg where the spirit of Humboldt apparently lives.  Let me explain. Despite Humboldt being a dead rich guy, the foundation is not what he created with his will, but by the German government to foster engagement with foreign scientists after World War II.  It funds, among other things ..read more
Visit website
Outbidding Oneself? Trump Competes with Himself?
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
1w ago
 The entire idea of ethnic outbidding is that one is pushed by competition to ever more extreme promises.  In 2016, Trump was pushed by Cruz and others to ban Muslims, for instance, to prove that he was a better defender of white "Christians" and all that.  Ethnic outbidding is a well understood dynamic built from studying cases where multiple contenders for an homogeneous party each make extreme claims. But, Steve, Trump doesn't face any competition from his own party.  That's right, his last significant opponent dropped out, and Nikki never really tried to outflank Trump ..read more
Visit website
Berlin 2024 Week Vier: Progress Accelerating
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
1w ago
A bit of the wall near the Canadian embassy  Time flies when one is sabbaticalling in a foreign land.  Today marks a complete month in Europe with most of it in Berlin (just the one trip to Vienna thus far but that will change soon).  I had my first interviews for the project--it took a while to get started, but now the schedule is filling up.  And I got to present the project to the Hertie folks.  Oh and more walking and gawking and touristing. Usually, when I travel to a national capital to do fieldwork, I am there for a week or two, I try to fill up my ..read more
Visit website
Vienna Waited For Me?
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
2w ago
 I spent roughly 48 hours in Vienna, as Erin Jenne, a friend and co-author, invited me to Central European University to give a talk about my ongoing research and to help her grade her class's poster presentations.  It was not my first time to Austria, as I did visit Salzburg during my Eurailpass summer long ago, but it was my first time to Vienna.  Indeed, I am pretty sure Vienna was the only European capital on this side of the former Iron Curtain that I had not visited other than Athens.  And I am pretty sure we will do Greece next year. I am most grateful for the chan ..read more
Visit website
Cranky Defence Critic And Threats Facing Canada
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
2w ago
 I woke up in the middle of the night because I am old and I ate and drank too much.  I couldn't resist schnitzel and strudel as I am in Vienna for a talk and for some other shenanigans (more on that in another post).  And then I saw Phil Lagassé's post on the Conservatives and if they might spend on defence if elected.  On that general topic, I am a skeptic as I think the CPC cares more about deficits than about defence, and the place to cut the budget is, alas, defence.  That is where the money is.  This was true under Harper.  I don't know what Pierre Poil ..read more
Visit website
Berlin 2024: Report Zwei
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
3w ago
 Before I go out and tourist this Saturday, time to post about my second week in Berlin.  The big news was laundry.  No, not really.  The big news is the Zeintwende conference I attended.   I spent two days hanging out at the Hertie School where they and the German armed forces Centre of Military History and Social Sciences held a conference on how European countries are re-thinking their world views in the aftermath of Russia's re-invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  I blogged about it here, so I will not repeat my summary of the event.  I will say that it de ..read more
Visit website
Zeitenwende All Over the World!
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
3w ago
 Two years ago, Olaf Scholtz, the German Chancellor, announced that we were at a moment of Zeitenwende in the aftermath of Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine (2014 was the start, 2022 was much deeper with greater intensity and more far-reaching aims).  The term refers to a watershed moment, a rupture, a turning point that ushers out the old way of thinking and ushers in a new one.  That alters the ideational foundations of foreign/defense policy and grand strategy.  I am lucky enough to be in Berlin and at the Hertie School as they held an event aimed at seeking to under ..read more
Visit website
Pondering Platforming
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
1M ago
 A controversy broke out on social media this weekend: Taylor Lorenz interviewed the (or one of the) truly horrible people behind the far right Libs of Tiktok account.  It raised questions of whether one should platform the truly awful.  I have been thinking of platforming such for awhile  now, so I am using this as an opportunity to think through my stance (which is not at all based on a strong standing of the legalities of all of this). Let's start with the basics that people get so very confused about: No one is entitled to a platform, everyone is entitled to free speec ..read more
Visit website
Berlin 2024: Report Eins!
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
1M ago
Yes, I went back to the East Side Gallery my first weekend, as it was not closed on Sunday most shopping is closed)  I have been in Berlin for one week thus far, with nearly three months to go.  It has been a very busy week, and it did not just involve getting situated.  But, yes, that took some effort and time as well.  So, what have been up to in the shadow of the TV tower that is featured in any movie that wants to depict Berlin as a destination?     First, yes, getting situated.  I am staying near the Hertie School's Center for International Sec ..read more
Visit website
Thanks For Your Service, Peter Feaver
Saideman's Semi-Spew
by
1M ago
 I just finished reading Peter Feaver's excellent "Thanks for Your Service: the Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military." Between Feaver and Michael Robinson, the bar has been set on exhaustive, diligent, and creative deployments of surveys and survey experiments to tease out how publics feel about the US military.  Robinson sought to understand the politicization of the armed forces, whereas Feaver seeks to understand many dimensions of what it means for the US military to be the institution that has the most public confidence.   Feaver used both p ..read more
Visit website

Follow Saideman's Semi-Spew on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR