When teaching Intro to International Relations, I love referencing "IR Movie Easter eggs": explicit international politics lessons/references from movies NOT overtly about international politics.

For those teaching IR classes this coming term, here are my 10 favorite!
A quick note on the rankings: They basically go from #10 "Not subtle and sort of critical to the plot" to #1 "very subtle and not essential at all to the plot at all"

But all were probably unexpected when you sat down to watch the movie for the first time !
#10 Captain America: Civil War

Was NOT expecting a super hero movie to offer a one-scene master-class in the meaning of sovereignty, power, and legitimacy in international politics

#9: Sound of Music

Come from the cheesy family-friendly musical, leave with a lesson in the Anschluss

#8 Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country

In a movie that is basically a Cold War Allegory, this famous scene drops a reference to Lebensraum

#7 Frozen

Wasn't expecting a lesson on trade treaties as a lever of power and exploitation

#6 Black Panther

Revealing Wakanda's power at the UN General Assembly in this bonus scene raises all sorts of questions about how the world will react

#5 Talladega Nights:

This scene is great for teaching bargaining and credible commitments (h/t @mkmckoy) -- "just say `really thin pancakes'" -- and how nationalism can lead to conflict -- "this here is `Merica, the greatest planet on Earth"

#4 Animal House

"The Germans?"

#4 DIE HARD

Given that the helicopter is heading to a roof top, this is an ingenious reference

#2 The Princess Bride

While learning about mixed strategies, don't forget the the the most famous strategic blunder!

#1 Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Didn't expect a lesson on the folly of trade wars courtesy of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff

Yes, there was a tie for #4 -- Is "The Germans" or "Saigon" more subtle?

Anyhow, hope you enjoy the list!

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More from @ProfPaulPoast

29 Dec 20
Folks have discovered my various "IR and Movies" threads from 2020. Therefore, I'm breaking my "end of 2020 Twitter break" to post a thread of these threads.

If you want to bring popular movies into the IR classroom, this thread is for you!
Read 8 tweets
19 Dec 20
DIE HARD is the perfect Christmas Movie...for understanding how Americans view international politics

[THREAD] Image
To be clear: the movie doesn't capture ALL aspects of international politics (especially IR theory)

For that, you need to watch ID4!

But the movie expertly captures the anxieties associated with US "global leadership" during the late Cold War era.

Those are

-- relative economic decline

-- Vietnam syndrome

-- Terrorism

Let's look at each one (and what DIE HARD has to say about them)
Read 35 tweets
14 Dec 20
Is it true that democracies don't go to war with each other?

Sort of. But I wouldn't base public policy on the finding.

Why? Let's turn to the data.

[THREAD]
The idea of a "Democratic Peace" is a widely held view that's been around for a long time.

By 1988, there already existed enough studies on the topic for Jack Levy to famously label Democratic Peace "an empirical law"
The earliest empirical work on the topic was the 1964 report by Dean Babst published in the "Wisconsin Sociologist"
Read 42 tweets
12 Dec 20
What does the Texas lawsuit (& the Supreme Court's decision to reject that lawsuit) teach us about "Sovereignty"?

[THREAD]

cnn.com/2020/12/11/pol…
By way of background, the Texas Lawsuit asked the US Supreme Court to nullify the votes from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Texas perceived those states as having carried out flawed elections.

texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/…
At the heart of the case was the idea of "sovereignty"
Read 25 tweets
9 Dec 20
Why are civil-mil scholars upset about Austin Lloyd's nomination as the 28th Secretary of Defense?

Consider the nomination of the 3rd Secretary of Defense: George Marshall

[THREAD]
In 1950, Truman wanted to fire the second SecDef, Louis Johnson, and install George Marshall as Secretary of Defense.
There was a problem: when the Department of Defense was created in 1947, section 202 of the 1947 National Security Act (which created the DoD, then called "The National Military Establishment") would not allow recently retired officers to serve as SecDef

global.oup.com/us/companion.w…
Read 18 tweets
6 Dec 20
What's the "value" offered by international relations scholarship?

What does it mean to think about world events "like an international relations scholar"?

Trump's order to withdrawal 🇺🇸 troops from 🇸🇴 offers a useful illustration.

[THREAD]

bbc.com/news/world-us-…
This event could be viewed from a variety of angles, from the "micro-level" on up.

International Relations scholars/analysts can and do use each of the following angles, though not all are strictly speaking taking an "International Relations angle".

Let's explore the angles.
The "country-expert" angle entails discussing the event by laying out the situation within Somalia, providing details on key figures involved and perhaps how the conflict has disrupted Somalia's internal governance and society.

africa.cgtn.com/2020/09/27/som…
Read 14 tweets

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