A new study reveals limited impact on U.S. public opinion of using #GenderApartheid to describe the #Taliban's abuse of #Afghanistan's women, but also shows the potential of codifying it as an international crime. From @mmgarrity.bsky.social & @joshschwartz.bsky.social:

Gender Apartheid and U.S. Public Opinion: Why Law Matters More Than Labels

Noting the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women violates international law may be more persuasive for Americans than the word "apartheid."

justsecurity.org

Arguing that the speed of defeat matters—with quicker defeats having multiple benefits—CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social urges US policymakers to beware the sunk cost fallacy in Iran via The National Interest. Read: nationalinterest.org/feature/is-t...

Is There a Right Way to Lose the Iran War?

US policymakers have fallen for the sunk-cost fallacy more than once; they should reject that temptation in Iran.

nationalinterest.org

Losing a war is painful, but what’s the best way to do it? In a new piece in the The National Interest, I argue it’s better to lose faster than slower nationalinterest.org/feature/is-t...

Is There a Right Way to Lose the Iran War?

US policymakers have fallen for the sunk-cost fallacy more than once; they should reject that temptation in Iran.

nationalinterest.org

Does framing the oppression of women and girls as gender apartheid rather than gender persecution have an impact on US public opinion and policy preference? Read @joshschwartz.bsky.social and @mmgarrity.bsky.social’s latest #openaccess article to find out: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag088

Debates over language are omnipresent in politics, but what are the limits and unintentional effects of rhetorical framing? @mmgarrity.bsky.social and I explore these questions as it relates to the #EndGenderApartheid campaign in a new article in @iajournal.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/ia/i...

The limits of language: gender apartheid and public opinion

Looking at the case of the #EndGenderApartheid movement, this article evaluates how language in activist movements shapes public opinion and policy prefere

doi.org

New piece out in @foreignaffairs.com ! I argue that an overlooked dimension of the war in Iran, and of international security broadly, is wartime access: decisions by states to let the U.S. military fight wars from inside their borders. www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/iran-an...

Iran and the Hidden Cost of Wartime Access

America’s empire of bases makes It easier to blunder Into war.

foreignaffairs.com

How do combatants navigate interdependence during wartime? In just-published research, Nadiya Kostyuk et al. examine how combatants manage collective institutions during conflict and challenge the view that war and interdependence are inherently incompatible. Read: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"Choosing to fight can lead to all the normal costs of war—death, destruction, and a shift in resources from butter to guns—but not bring the expected benefits in terms of enhanced reputation for resolve,” writes @joshschwartz.bsky.social, SSP visiting scholar. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NkrsdJ

Thrilled to share that my job market paper (9 years in the making!) is now accepted @thejop.bsky.social. I question the conventional wisdom that standing firm is always beneficial to a state's reputation for resolve relative to backing down doi.org/10.1086/741344

Rethinking Reputation: When Fighting to Demonstrate Resolve Backfires | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja

doi.org

Are nuclear weapons useful for coercion? If so, what factors increase the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats? Read the latest research from CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social and UPenn's @mchorowitz.bsky.social in International Organization. Read: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Excited to share a new article in @iojournal.bsky.social with @mchorowitz.bsky.social! We evaluate the risk of states using automated nuclear launch systems to facilitate revisionist coercive efforts. Unfortunately, we find the danger is real and should be taken seriously doi.org/10.1017/S002...

As President Trump withdraws the US from intl agreements - including the Paris Agreement and WHO - Lotem Bassan-Nygate and I ask how this affects public opinion towards cooperation? We descibe our recent findings in @goodauth.bsky.social : tinyurl.com/goodauth @harvardkennedy.bsky.social 1/4

When Trump withdraws from global agreements, will the public follow?

When Trump withdraws from global agreements, will the public follow? New evidence shows that Trump’s actions can change minds, but there are limits.

tinyurl.com

Excited to share a new article in @iojournal.bsky.social with @mchorowitz.bsky.social! We evaluate the risk of states using automated nuclear launch systems to facilitate revisionist coercive efforts. Unfortunately, we find the danger is real and should be taken seriously doi.org/10.1017/S002...

What factors increase the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats? New research by CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social and UPenn's @mchorowitz.bsky.social highlights the dangers of countries adopting automated nuclear systems for malign purposes. Read: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Automated nuclear weapons systems are not just a Hollywood plot device. In this #Firstview article, @joshschwartz.bsky.social and @mchorowitz.bsky.social evaluate how they could impact the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

#OpenAccess from @iojournal.bsky.social - Delegating Destruction: Coercive Threats and Automated Nuclear Systems - https://cup.org/49YGNct - @joshschwartz.bsky.social & @mchorowitz.bsky.social #FirstView

“We find concerning evidence that automated nuclear weapons launch systems may enhance the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats,” write @joshschwartz.bsky.social, SSP visiting scholar, & @mchorowitz.bsky.social in their latest article for International Organization https://bit.ly/3LLxxPA

Interested in teaching an engaging but rigorous course on American foreign policy and film? Check out my guide for how to do so in @jpseeditors.bsky.social. First 50 readers get free access! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YX3CZ...

Popcorn and Politics: A Course on American Foreign Policy and Film

Integrating film into traditional political science courses can provide powerful benefits. Most notably, it can increase student excitement about and thus engagement with a course. This paper offer...

tandfonline.com

@dandrezner.bsky.social We need the toddler-in-chief thread back for its pièce de résistance! www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/w...

Denied Peace Prize, Trump Tells Norway He’ll Push for Greenland

nytimes.com

Wondering how domestic polarization is bleeding over into foreign policy? Interested in why Trump is cozying up to right-wing countries like El Salvador + Russia while menacing left-wing Venezuela + Denmark? Check out my updated working paper w/ Dom Tierney preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/...

The Ideological Peace

How does ideology impact international politics? Scholars have highlighted the role of ideological preferences about the appropriate process of policymaking, especially democracy versus nondemocracy. ...

preprints.apsanet.org

"The use of history to shed light on current events can be dangerously misleading. The parallels are never exactly parallel." Read the latest from CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social and Paul Lendway at Stanford, via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: www.post-gazette.com/opinion/insi...

Joshua Schwartz and Paul Lendway: Is Venezuela Iraq or Panama? Failure or success?

The Trump administration’s audacious military action against Venezuela has split commentators into two camps, depending on how they read the situation...

post-gazette.com

"However, neither Iraq nor Panama offers a perfect match to the present situation. The use of history to shed light on current events can be dangerously misleading. The parallels are never exactly parallel." @joshschwartz.bsky.social & Paul Lendway www.post-gazette.com/opinion/insi...

Joshua Schwartz and Paul Lendway: Is Venezuela Iraq or Panama? Failure or success?

The Trump administration’s audacious military action against Venezuela has split commentators into two camps, depending on how they read the situation...

post-gazette.com

Historical analogies are omnipresent in foreign policy debates—like accusations that Trump's Russia-Ukraine peace plan is akin to appeasing Hitler. But are analogies an effective rhetorical tool? Check out my new article w/ @chriswblair.bsky.social & Paul Lendway. doi.org/10.1177/0022...

Do historical analogies shape public opinion about foreign policymaking? Read the latest research by @chriswblair.bsky.social, Paul Lendway, and CMIST's @joshschwartz.bsky.social in the Journal of Conflict Resolution. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Historical Analogies and Public Support for Foreign Policy Action - Christopher Blair, Paul Lendway, Joshua A. Schwartz, 2025

Politicians frequently use historical analogies to justify their preferred foreign policies. However, despite their prevalence, it remains unclear whether, how,...

journals.sagepub.com

Historical analogies are omnipresent in foreign policy debates—like accusations that Trump's Russia-Ukraine peace plan is akin to appeasing Hitler. But are analogies an effective rhetorical tool? Check out my new article w/ @chriswblair.bsky.social & Paul Lendway. doi.org/10.1177/0022...

What real-world lessons, if any, can we draw from the recent nuclear film "A House of Dynamite?" CMIST's @joshschwartz.bsky.social cautions that the film’s core dilemma is a false one. Read his analysis, today in Modern War Institute mwi.westpoint.edu/the-false-ch...

The False Choice at the Heart of Netflix’s Nuclear War Thriller, “A House of Dynamite” - Modern War Institute

In Kathryn Bigelow’s new film, A House of Dynamite, a nuclear missile streaks toward Chicago. The president has minutes to decide whether to respond by launching America’s own nuclear weapons. It’s gr...

mwi.westpoint.edu

Netflix’s House of Dynamite is great drama, but terrible nuclear strategy. Hopefully real-world policymakers are more savvy than the fictional ones in the film. Our survival could depend on it! Check out my take t.co/eQbzUrXUFM

“History shows that staying power — not striking an invader’s homeland — is how the weak beat the strong.” Read the latest from CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social on why it is possible for Ukraine to win without attacking Russia, today in @post-gazette.com. www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gues...

Joshua A. Schwartz: Trump is wrong. Ukraine can win without attacking Russia

Since returning to the White House, President Trump has made ending the Russia-Ukraine War a signature foreign policy goal. But his central premise that...

post-gazette.com

Really grateful for @environmentalpol.bsky.social shortlisting my co-authored piece on fossil fuel divestment and public opinion for the best article of the year award. Check it out for an example of a published paper that finds null effects

Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology@cmist-cmu.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Congratulations to CMIST’s Joshua A. Schwartz along with Paul Lendway & Abolfazl Nuri, whose article was shortlisted for the Environmental Politics Article of the Year Award 2024. Read their paper www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

***Announcement*** The Summer 2025 issue is online! Read articles by @drsarahphillips.bsky.social and Daniel Tower; @daveckang.bsky.social‬, Jackie S. H. Wong, and @zenobiachan.bsky.social; Wu Riqiang; Nick Anderson and Daryl Press; and Henrik Hiim and Øystein Tunsjø direct.mit.edu/isec/issue

Volume 50 Issue 1 | International Security | MIT Press

direct.mit.edu