Earlier this week, I noted that India had decided to withdraw its military helicopters from the UN missions in the DR Congo and Sudan, and suggested this...
Richard Gowan
Richard Gowan coordinates the International Security Institutions program at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. He is also the UN Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and an associate of the Foreign Policy Center (London).
Think-tank life: the video
What is life like inside a hot-shot New York think-tank? What does it really feel like to, say, pick up a phone and talk to the answering machine of a...
“Mindless scientific method” (never mind the bullocks)
"How can you reduce animal pain and increase their comfort in your laboratory?" This is not a question I ask myself often, as I do most of my research among...
Austere peacekeeping
It's been a rough couple of weeks for UN peacekeeping, with (i) the fall-out of the DRC mass rape story; (ii) Rwanda's threat to pull troops out of Darfur in...
The return of good old-fashioned diplomacy?
Earlier this week, Alex linked to a blog-post by Tyler Cowen on why diplomacy is a "a stressful and unrewarding profession." I'm afraid I found much of the...
The UN needs better codenames
In April 2009, I noted that UN forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo mounted an anti-rebel operation codenamed "Rock of Steel". This week, after mass...
Can we still believe in peacekeepers?
This is my 300th post on Global Dashboard. My first, posted on 15 November 2007, was about how peacekeeping was in a troubled state, with senior UN officials...
Do tough neighborhoods breed big powers?
Are emerging great powers like Old Etonians or street-fighters? Or, to be a bit more literal, should we expect great powers to emerge out of privileged,...
Rum, sodomy and the budget
In the 1950s, British naval strategists briefly adopted the notion of "broken-backed" warfare, by which they meant fighting on after an atomic strike on the...
Iran vs. Thunderbirds
Iran has just revealed its first "bomber drone": While this is obviously rather annoying, I can't help noticing the resemblance between this machine and...
Weekend quiz: who left Iraq when?
In the week the U.S. withdrew its last combat troops from Iraq (leaving a mere 50,000 who probably could do bit of fighting if required) here's a small quiz. ...
Are you staring at the EU’s ass?
Look at this little fellow... ...and try telling me that he wouldn't look better with this logo stuck to his furry flank: What, you may ask, am I going on...
Recipe corner: Macedonian bean bonanza
Wondering what to cook this weekend? How about beans? If you like beans, Macedonia is the place to be. The small village of Sarchievo, with only four houses...
Indian aid to Pakistan: too statist?
China has been accused of being "stingy" for offering its Pakistan just $2 million in flood aid. India is being more generous, and Pakistan will accept help...
Darfur: the UN digs in. Literally.
At the weekend, I noted increased tensions in Darfur after violence in a huge IDP camp near the town of Nyala. Today, good news: the Sudanese government has...
NYC philosophy professors: worse than Wall Street?
Henry Kissinger once said that academic politics is so vicious because the stakes are so low. In today's NYT, Mark Taylor (who runs Columbia's Religion...
More competition for Global Dashboard (and that’s a good thing)
David Bosco, author of a good book about the Security Council, has launched a new blog for Foreign Policy called The Multilateralist. Here's his mission...
Darfur: total strategic meltdown
The Cable reports tensions - and maybe personnel changes - in Washington: President Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, could be...
Peacekeeping: fun for all ages!
How do you get your kids out of baby blue bonnets and into manly blue helmets? Send them to summer camp in Harrietsville, Ontario, that's how: The rope...
The EU-Team
What do the four people above have to learn from the four below? I pity the fool that does not find out the answer here (OK, it's just a link to another...
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