Here are a few links to interesting and relevant stories around the web.
- Despite Syria's accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention, David Held and Kyle McNally think the prospects in Syria are still grim. See their guest post here. [The Monkey Cage]
- The Myths We Soldiers Tell Ourselves (and the harm these myths do). Written by three lieutenant colonels, this piece in the Military Review highlights a significant discrepancy between the Army's stated values and its actual behavior:
The biggest problem with the Army Values is how they are sloganeered. By simply saying them, we soldiers frequently delude ourselves into thinking they make us more ethical, like they are a talisman. Indeed, they can actually set the stage for unethical action by inspiring moral complacency and allowing us to justify nearly any action that appears legal.
Read the Foreign Policy write-up on the controversial piece here.
- Rita Stephan at e-International Relations on “Cyberfeminism and its Political Implications for Women in the Arab World.”
- A forthcoming article [International Studies Quarterly] from Paul Avey and Michael Deschdissects when and how policymakers use academic social science to inform national security decision-making. The short answer?
What the academy is giving policymakers is not what they say they need from us.