Paul Poast Profile picture
Aug 11, 2019 8 tweets 3 min read Read on X
In light of North Korea missile tests, worth reflecting on the limits of arms control agreements (assuming that is a goal of the Trump admin).

I highlighted those limits with the INF 👇. Having trouble seeing how an eventual NK-USA Agreement could do better 🤷‍♂️
But don’t accept my skepticism about arms control agreements.

Take it from a foundational IR text, “The Disarmament Illusion” by Merze Tate
Full text available here:

archive.org/stream/disarma…
Is the Tate book dated? Sure!

But sometimes (most of the time?) the old ideas in IR still hold true 👇

Consider my favorite passage from Tate, which I share with #ChicagoIntroIR students -- it expresses an idea that Waltzs & Mearsheimers of IR would recognize
Indeed, you could read that passage by Tate and basically understand the idea expressed in this recent @IntOrgJournal piece by Fearon

cambridge.org/core/journals/…
@IntOrgJournal So from Europe to the Korean peninsula to Iran, I'm not bullish on the prospects of sustaining arms control.

[END OF MINI-THREAD]
ADDENDUM: For more on the design of arms control agreements, check out @sekreps recent @FPA_Jrnl piece

academic.oup.com/fpa/article-ab…

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More from @ProfPaulPoast

Jun 15
When you hear "Liberal International Order", just think "the G-7, for better and for worse"

[THREAD] Image
While some scholars and policy makers like to speak of the "Liberal International Order" as the collection of post-World War II international institutions....
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
...the phrase itself is much more recent in origins, largely a product of the mid-1990s. Image
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Jun 8
Are the "opportunity costs" of arming Ukraine too high?

Short answer: no

Long answer: compared to what?

[THREAD]
For those not aware, I am asking this question because of a new International Affairs piece that makes the argument "yes, they are too high"

academic.oup.com/ia/advance-art…
Overall, their argument is that the resources going towards Ukraine would be better allocated to address other pressing global challenges.
Read 24 tweets
Jun 1
In international politics, population is destiny.

[THREAD] Image
As I wrote in my latest for @WPReview, shifting patterns in population growth will inevitably influence international politics.
worldpoliticsreview.com/global-demogra…
This isn't a new idea. It's one found in classic works on change in world politics.

amazon.com/War-Change-Wor…
Read 14 tweets
May 18
What's wrong with the word "genocide"?

[THREAD]
To be clear, I think we need to talk more about genocide in my discipline, International Relations.

And there is still much about genocides in the past that we don't understand...

tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
Read 17 tweets
May 11
Should everyone have nuclear weapons?

That's the core question in the Waltz-Sagan debate

[THREAD] Image
In my latest @WPReview thread, I wrote about another debate: whether nuclear weapons actually deter.
worldpoliticsreview.com/nuclear-weapon…
I pointed out the difficulties in answering that question, namely that we don't actually know when deterrence works (i.e. selection bias)...
tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
Read 22 tweets
May 4
Does the United States have a responsibility to protect the civilians of Gaza?

[THREAD] Image
In my latest @WPReview column, I wrote of the downfall of "Responsibility to Protect" or R2P.

worldpoliticsreview.com/us-foreign-pol…
R2P is "the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity". This means nations can't hide behind the barrier of "sovereignty" to stop interventions.

un.org/en/genocidepre…
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