What congressmen knew and when they knew it: Further evidence on the origins of U.S. broadcasting regulation

This paper presents richer contemporaneous evidence of Congress's role in the passage of the Radio Act of 1927, the act which established the basic statutory framework that still governs federal regulation of broadcasting in the United States. Recent analysis finding the court's decision in Tribune Co. v. Oak Leaves Broadcasting Station to have been the cause of Congress's action on the radio bill is shown to rest on an inaccurate chronology of congressional decisionmaking. More closely examining the actions of legislators upon whose votes passage of the radio act depended, this paper contributes new evidence of strategic orchestration surrounding the perceived “chaos of the airwaves” that stimulated broadcasting regulation. Original congressional documents show that, in a political context characterized by costly information, intra-congressional manipulation of information costs was an important factor in the adoption of the Radio Act of 1927. Personal ties between executive branch officials are shown to have spawned a key legal opinion that prompted passage of the radio bill.     

Reply to my critics

ABSTRACT

This paper offers an overview of the central argument of my book, Territorial Sovereignty, and replies to four critics.     

The friend of my enemy is my enemy: International alliances and international terrorism

Terrorism is an instrument for groups that cannot achieve their political goals legally. One important strategic function of terrorism is to weaken the government – either directly by attacking representatives or supporters of the government or indirectly by causing a political response that is unpopular among the population. Often, however, political stability of the home government is buttressed by foreign powers. In this case, the terrorists can have a strategic interest in attacking nationals of these foreign countries. This article analyses this logic by looking at international alliances as a proxy for international support. If the friend of my enemy is my enemy, then terror entrepreneurs, which seek to overthrow their home country's government (the enemy), may find it attractive to target nationals of the foreign allies of their country (the friends of the enemy). The theory in this article predicts that attacking nationals of a foreign ally is particularly attractive if this ally is militarily more powerful than the home country. Moreover, the combined effect of alliance and relative power differentials becomes stronger the more democratic the ally and becomes weaker the more democratic the terrorists' home country. Empirical support for the hypotheses in this article is found in an analysis of a directed country dyad sample of international terrorism.     

From the politics of lying to the farce at Suez: What the US knew

This article seeks to establish, in a definitive manner, what the US knew about the Suez invasion plan of 1956.

With the benefit of the CIA's U‐2 reconnaissance plane, the US was able to pinpoint, as of mid‐October, the existence of nearly three times the number of Mystère fighters in Israel than had previously been notified to Washington by the French government. That plus an information blackout on the part of the British and the French, and the breakdown of negotiations with the Egyptians at the UN, roused Washington's apprehensions that a military option was being considered. However, though there was suspicion on the part of the US that an Israeli‐French operation might be in the offing, Washington never seriously focused on the possibility of a tripartite operation involving the British, the French, and the Israelis. President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles relied on the Anglo‐American special relationship and on British good sense not to get involved. In particular, Washington completely missed the fact of the British‐French‐Israeli meeting at Sèvres, at which time (24 October), the decision was taken to launch the operation five days later. The transparent nature of the British‐French announced decision, after the Israeli attack, to ‘separate’ the Egyptian and Israeli forces doomed the operation from the start before the court of world opinion. In this manner, Operation ‘Separation of Forces’ was transformed into a force.     

网络语言之我见

在网络技术、网络文化蓬勃发展的同时,催生了网络语言这门新的语言。然而,网络语言的迅速发展在语言界却兴起了轩然大波,众人对网络语言的态度褒贬不一。从网络语言与日常语言的联系、网络语言的特征、网络语言特点形成的主要原因等方面,表达了作者对于网络语言的理解和对高职学院大学生使用网络语言所持的态度。     

《大堰河,我的保姆》修辞分析

<大堰河,我的保姆>脍炙人口,是现代诗歌的名篇,具有很强的艺术感染力.从修辞角度来看,主要表现在以下方面:大量排比、反复呼告、强烈对比的使用,以及谐音隐喻、视点转换、陌生搭配的利用.