Heading to ‘Frisco for APSA this week.^[NB: I use this term ‘frisco’ not without some reservation as I know locals of San Francisco loath it with a fiery passion of a 1000 suns. But as a native of Southern California, I couldn’t resist.] Not much planned save for flurry of job market interviews and meetings with old colleagues, advisors, and friends. To be sure, I planned this trip not without some degree of trepidation.

I will be in Orange County, CA and Seattle, WA the last week of May and first week of June conducting field work for my dissertation. Should be fun “practicing history without a license” as my co-chair is fond of saying. But in truth, I think good empirical research on foreign policy needs archival work now more than ever. I can only show so much with a formal model or regression; as important as those are to rigorous social science, getting into the historical weeds is equally as essential because it shows us which of the variables we thought were important actually are.

Reading: A just war unjustly disowned Matt Gobush on the moral tragedy of doing nothing. How Clausewitz became a great strategic thinker Vanya Eftimova Bellinger explains: The French Revolution Mentorship A good partner Experience Time (for ideas to mature). Will More: A student’s perspective The sadness I feel now as I write this is that he won’t get to see the ways he changed and is changing the discipline. He won’t get to see how his intellectual offspring flourish.

Quick note for UT undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in National Security. This week, The Clements Center is holding a Student Professional Development Fund Info Session. The short of it is, if you find an unpaid internship in National Security, the Clements Center has funds to help you pay for living expenses.

This week at the Center for Politics and Governance. Details Wednesday, April 19, 5:00–6:00PM Student Activity Center (SAC), Room 1.106 Cryptocurrencies and the decentralized computing networks that power them, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, have become a global phenomenon. The problem is, most people, including policymakers, don’t have a deep understanding of how these new networks operate, what they can do, and what risks and opportunities they present. Peter Van Valkenburgh, Research Director at Coin Center, will explain how cryptocurrencies work, examine the many policy issues they raise, and discuss the future of this innovative yet disruptive technology.