The power of social media

I have no doubt that social media are growing in relevance in politics and higher education. I hope we able to use this trend to promote understanding, peace and justice. (Yes, call me an idealist). I'm learning how to "tweet" and you can follow me on https://twitter.com/djesuit.

CMU at NMUN 2009

Jacqueline Smith and Anne Marie Milne discuss the Holy See's role in the 3rd Committee at NMUN 2009 in the Great Hall 0f the General Assembly. Ryan Thomas, Matthew Morrow and Eric Schulz discuss their roles at the 2009 NMUN in NYC.

Obama's Foreign Policy

One of the questions I've posed to students concerns whether Obama's foreign policy will represent a significant departure from past administrations. In other words, would you emphasize stability or change? I argue that Obama's policy thus far reflects a continuation of US post cold war foreign policy. That is, it reflects a sense of American "triumphalism" and benevolent hegemony. (Fukuyama's 1989 article "The End of History" is a good place to start reading about this). This argument is made by Benjamin Schwartz in an excellent article published in February's Atlantic Monthly. Of course, I acknowledge that the Obama administration will employ different tactics and use "smart power" in order to achieve desired foreign policy outcomes. However, the grand strategy remains the same.

Our visiting scholar gets fired up at the Chips game

Dr. Francesco de Leonardis, Director of the Masters in Public Administration at the University of Macerata in Italy, is currently a visiting scholar in our Department. Faculty members Moataz Fattah, Thomas Greitens and David Jesuit took him to his first American football game when the Chips opened their season against Eastern Illinois University. Francesco immediately became a big fan of the game and we had a great time rooting for CMU! The final score of the game was CMU 31- EIU 12.

Biden?

This is the first post I've ever made on a blog so bear with me. If you had asked me about Obama's VP choice a few weeks ago I would have put Joe Biden toward the bottom of my list. I had thought that picking Biden would emphasize one of Obama's weaknesses, namely his lack of foreign policy experience. Selecting Tim Kaine, on the contrary, would have reinforced his message of change. However, media coverage of the selection suggests to me that this was a safe choice. For example, it indicates that Obama has enough confidence to surround himself with individuals willing to challenge his opinions and offer another perspective. Biden's plan for a tripartite division of Iraq is indicative of his courage to challenge conventional wisdom, which has been lacking in the current administration. (However, I do have some misgivings about the "Biden Plan"). Finally, I do believe that the crisis in Georgia was a factor in choosing Biden over Bayh and Kaine (being a Roman Catholic with working class roots also helps!) Coverage in the NYT emphasizes these points as well.
What do you think?

To the Political Science Department at CMU:

Welcome to the brand new CMU Political Science Blog!  

The videos to the right have recently changed, so there may be a down period while YouTube updates its files.  Please be patient, as this can sometimes take a couple hours.

If you're a member of the Political Science Department at CMU, you should have received an invitation to join this blog as an author.  Please accept these invitations and beginning authoring articles at your convenience.  The key to a successful blog, is having plenty of articles for your readers.  Also, the more posts there are, the more likely this site is to turn up as a search result on Google!

Don't know what to write about?  Take a few minutes to write about your most recent research topics.  Tell us who you are and what your goals are.  Have a conference coming up? --  Tell us all about it! The most important thing is to keep posting and have fun!

Have a great semester!

Aaron Jones

Exodous Digital Productions