Erik Voeten

Argentina is about to nationalize an oil company (owned by a Spanish company) a year after said company announced the discovery of massive new reserves, Spain’s threats to take “clear and forceful measures” notwithstanding. This type of nationalization might seem extreme but it is business as usual in oil-rich states. My friend and co-author Michael […]

Political scientists Kevin Clarke and David Primo placed an op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times arguing that the social sciences need to overcome their ‘physics envy.’ I take the main point to be that we ought to value theoretical contributions even if we cannot directly test their empirical implications. Vice versa, we can learn a […]

The coup in Mali is widely seen as a major setback for democracy, not just in Mali but potentially in the region as a whole. Coups are indeed the single most important proximate cause of the downfall of democratic governments. Yet, a paper by Hein Goemans and Nikolay Marinov provides some grounds for optimism. Goemans and […]

Last week, the National Congress of the Communist Party of China  (CCP) removed an important provincial party secretary from office, stirring unrest in China and even suggestions that a coup is in the works.  Dan Drezner analyzes the issue, referencing the American Political Science Review article by John Freeman and Dennis Quinn I blogged about earlier this […]

Much hope is vested in the ability of so-called smart sanctions to convince Iranian authorities to abandon their nuclear ambitions and to persuade Syrian authorities to step aside and stop abusing their population. Smart sanctions are designed to limit negative humanitarian consequences to civilian populations. Instead, they target elites whose support is crucial for the […]

It seems like the Netherlands has emerged as the exemplar of all that is wrong with modern secular liberalism. First there was Fox News’ campaign against the free love, pot smoking, anarchists who have turned Amsterdam into a Disney World for every questionable person in Europe (the video above is worth watching alone for Bill […]

I appreciate Michael Beckley’s response to a piece I wrote recently about China. I think Beckley’s International Security article offers a useful corrective to an alarmist declinist perspective and has deservedly generated much debate. But it still seems pretty clear to me that China has indeed been catching up with the United States over the […]

I am delighted to welcome Michael Beckley’s response to a piece I wrote recently about China and the United States. I may write a brief response later this week. ************************* Is the United States in relative decline to China?  In a recent article in International Security, I say no.  In a post on this blog, […]

The chorus of commentators who argue that Libya set a precedent that doomed UN Security Council action on Syria appears to be growing. Here is Steve Walt in Foreign Policy, Joshua Foust in the Atlantic,  Jack Goldsmith in Lawfare, building on earlier pieces by  Scott Horton and Walter Russell Mead . I don’t have a problem […]

Last weekend Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that sought to address the violence in Syria. The vote was 13-2. The resolution did not authorize the use of force or sanctions but merely condemned the violence perpetrated by the Syrian government and endorsed an Arab League plan that required Assad to yield […]