Steroids Everywhere

This Sports Illustrated article makes it clear steroids were just about everywhere in the 60s. Why is this relevant to IR? Its not but I never liked the idea that steroids are new or that only a few people ever did them, so we can call this empirical evidence.

SROP

UIC has a Student Research Opportunities program every summer. I am interested in sponsoring students. The deadline is next week so you need to act quickly if interested. Info links are here:

http://tigger.uic.edu/~bvaler/teachinfo.htm

You basically get a stipend and work intensively on a project all summer with the goal of eventual graduate school attendance. The aim is to get students into a Ph.D. program but I am sure the program would help Law Students.

Let me know if you have any questions, I have ongoing projects or you can work on whatever you wish.

Hiliary Marginalized

This article made me very happy.

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama’s chief Cabinet officer."

CSTO versus NATO

The new Russian alliance. I am betting NATO would win the dance off, but you never know...Kazakhstan has Borat.

"President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia, Armenia, Belarus and four Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — had reached the agreement to form a new security force during a summit of the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization on Wednesday. The force would add a military dimension to the Moscow-dominated alliance, which so far has served mostly as a forum for consultations."

Sri Linka Civil War

Here are a few BBC summaries on the Sri Linkan conflict.

Basic summary and Q&A

Is End Near?

War and Peace

Extra Credit

Extra Credit Repost

Guidelines for Extra Credit

You may choose to either write a report on a movie or a book (treat an event or lecture as a book) for extra credit. This report is due when you take your final. The movie review will be worth up to 7 points; a book/event review will be worth up to 15 points.

You can combine a report on a lecture and book/movie but you cannot do a book and a movie report.

Details:
Movie: The movie must deal with international issues (specifically conflict if you are in the conflict class) including anything we have covered in class. No movies on interpersonal relationships or tenuous connections to international events will be accepted (Borat). The movie can come from any time period. It would be best to get the movie approved before you watch. You must write at least a 4 page paper that will include one half review of the movie and the issues it covers. The second half will consider how it is relevant to the class and what lessons we can take from it. This assignment will be graded like any other essay, 7 points are not guaranteed. I do NOT want a recap of the movie.

Book: The book must deal with contemporary international issues (see above). It should be published after 9/11. The same issues mentioned in the movie option are fair game. It would be best to get the book approved by me before attempting to write a review. Your review must be at least 7 pages. It should be completed as your normal required book report (1/3 review, 1/3 connection to international issues, and 1/3 criticisms or support). This assignment will be graded like any other essay, 15 points are not guaranteed. I do NOT want a recap of the book/event.