I’m in the mood for…. APSA

Blogging will be erratic for the next couple of days as I wend my way to the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, DC. Lucky me, I have two panels tomorrow and then can truly enjoy the conference. If you feel the need to get into the APSA mood — and don’t we all feel that way sometimes — go click on the following:

1. Henry Farrell’s dining recommendations for APSA. 2. Marc Lynch’s (a.k.a., Abu Aardvark) disquisition from last month on the IR debate between rationalism and constructivism — and why “constructivism has won, at least in the security policy realm.” I would agree with Marc that seemingly non-material factors — such as nationalism and ideology — have become more important in international politics as of late. However, Lynch overstates the case in two ways: 1) These factors could merely be intervening variables for material power conditions (much like soft power is a function of hard power); and 2) Saying that non-material factors count doesn’t make them as plastic as most (but not all) constructivists believe. 3) My advice to APSA rookies from two years ago. I think it still holds up pretty well. 4) The APSA paper archive — it’s just like going to the conference, without the overpriced morning coffee!! Already, there are 28 papers on blogs archived, but my favorite title is “Blogs and the Bloggers Who Blog Them.”

Enjoy!!