Check out the new Cheap Talk shop at https://cheaptalk.shop; Chinese asylum seekers at the southern US border; the Beast Train; the latest Cuban espionage case and motivations for spying; why parties to conflict agree to ceasefires; the latest in the Elgin Marbles saga; royal neckwear; and Marcus has strange taste in YouTube videos

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Further Reading:
Eileen Sullivan. 2023. “Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border.” New York Times.

Glenn Thrush, Ernesto Londoño, David C. Adams and Frances Robles. 2023. “Retired U.S. Diplomat Accused of Working as a Secret Agent for Cuba.” New York Times.

Virginia Page Fortna. 2004. Peace Time: Ceasefire Agreements and the Durability of Peace. Princeton University Press.

Sean Coughlan and Brian Wheeler. 2023. “King’s tie features Greek flag after Elgin Marbles row.” BBC.

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The grand opening of the Cheap Talk shop at https://cheaptalk.shop; cheating at really fast chess; yet another panda update—this time from Scotland; video games as the solution to polarization and international peace; video games to strike fear into your hearts; Biden skips the climate summit; and Marcus is nothing if not consistent

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Our books also make great gifts:
Signing Away the Bomb, by Jeffrey M. Kaplow
Face-to-Face Diplomacy, by Marcus Holmes

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Further Reading:
Amit Kamath. 2023. “Hikaru Nakamura’s dig at Vladimir Kramnik over cheating accusations: ‘He doesn’t have a brain, he’s lost it.’” Indian Express.

Eduardo Medina. 2023. “Britain Says Bye-Bye to Its Only Pandas as They’ll Soon Depart for China.” New York Times.

David Wallace Lockhart. 2023. “Angus Robertson criticised by SNP colleague over China trip.” BBC.

Steffie S.Y. Kim, Ke M. Huang-Isherwood, Weiwei Zheng, and Dmitri Williams. 2022. “The art of being together: How group play can increase reciprocity, social capital, and social status in a multiplayer online game.” Computers in Human Behavior 133.

Michael D. Shear. 2023. “Harris to Stand In for Biden at U.N. Climate Conference.” New York Times.

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Panda diplomacy revisited; the State Department’s dissent channel; whether dissent cables matter; Xi and Biden meet without a a joint statement; resuming military-to-military communication; managing competition between China and the United States; the missing agreement on AI; and Marcus contemplates his Thanksgiving menu

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Further Reading/Watching:
Michael Crowley and Edward Wong. 2023. “State Department employees send Blinken ‘dissent’ cables over Gaza policy.” New York Times.

Michael Lee. 2023. “Biden hands China big win with military deal, experts say: 'Incredibly poor decision.’” Fox News.

Babish Culinary Universe. 2023. “Thanksgiving Recipe Marathon.” YouTube.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. 2023. “The Answers to All Your Thanksgiving Questions.” YouTube.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Updated 2022. “The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever Recipe.” Serious Eats.

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Panda diplomacy; conservation versus paranoia; the correlates of the panda presence abroad; China’s intentions with regard to large bears; the effectiveness of the panda signal; the causal mechanisms behind panda diplomacy; soft (and cuddly) power; distinguishing public diplomacy from propaganda; cute animals as grand strategy; and Marcus is not a zoologist

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Further Reading:
Edward Wong. 2023. “The End of Panda Diplomacy?” New York Times.

Falk Hartig. 2013. “Panda Diplomacy: The Cutest Part of China’s Public Diplomacy.” Hague Journal of Diplomacy 8(1): 49–78.

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Who is Hamas; US ideas about who governs Gaza; Israel signaling to adversaries; the US signaling to allies; Saudi Arabia may still be seeking normalization with Israel; China’s presence at an AI meeting; and Marcus wants to turn the tables

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Further Reading:
The Bletchley Declaration by Countries Attending the AI Safety Summit, 1-2 November 2023

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Vicarious trauma from the Israel-Hamas conflict; traffic maps and other consumer data with international security implications; reasons to delay an invasion of Gaza; the risk of a wider war in the Middle East; linking military action and political goals; the challenges of fighting in an urban environment; and Marcus would like you to follow him on Strava

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Further Reading:
Katelyn Jetelina and Julie Kaplow. 2023. “Social media, terrorist attacks, war, and vicarious trauma.” Your Local Epidemiologist Substack.

Olafimihan Oshin. 2023. “Google and Apple disable map functions in Israel, Gaza Strip as invasion looms.” The Hill.

Jeremy Hsu. 2018. “The Strava Heat Map and the End of Secrets.” Wired.

Helene Cooper, Adam Entous, and Eric Schmitt. 2023. “U.S. Raises Concerns About Israel’s Plan of Action in Gaza, Officials Say.” New York Times.

Daniel Byman. 2018. “Why Israel Is Stuck with Hamas.” Lawfare.

Renee Ridden and Amy O’Kruk. 2023. “Maps show the extreme population density in Gaza.” CNN.

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What’s going on in Israel and Gaza; President Biden’s visit to Israel; analogies to 9/11 and other past events; the benefits of a biased mediator; securing humanitarian aid for Gaza; the competing Putin/Xi summit; the value of export controls on technology; and Marcus shuts the barn door after the cows or the horses have gotten out

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Further reading:
Steven Erlanger. 2023. “New Global Divisions on View as Biden Goes to Israel and Putin to China.” New York Times.

Adobe Acrobat Team. 2022. “Fast-forward — comparing a 1980s supercomputer to the modern smartphone.” Adobe Blog.

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The war in Israel; it is ok to turn off the newsfeed; intelligence and security failures; why Hamas conducted this attack at this time; normalization with Israel; the role of Iran; US deterrence and military aid; Israel’s impending ground war; the tragedy of civilians caught in conflict; broader implications for international security; deterring terrorism; and Marcus is not doing well

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Further reading:
Andrew H. Kydd and Barbara Walter. 2006. “The Strategies of Terrorism.” International Security 31(1): 49–80.

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Birthday wishes; US political dysfunction and international politics; the second image reversed; the Trump candidacy and foreign policy; space diplomacy; anti-satellite weapons; cross-domain deterrence; the McDonalds peace theory; and Marcus has read a Tom Friedman book

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Further reading:
Peter Baker. 2023. “To the World, McCarthy’s Exit Is Just Another Example of U.S. Disarray.” New York Times.

Robert M. Gates. 2023. “The Dysfunctional Superpower: Can a Divided America Deter China and Russia?” Foreign Affairs.

Victoria Kim. 2023. “Elon Musk Acknowledges Withholding Satellite Service to Thwart Ukrainian Attack.” New York Times.

Erik Gartzke. 2007. “The Capitalist Peace.” American Journal of Political Science 51(1): 166–191.

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The dysfunction of the UN Security Council; how various IR traditions look at international institutions; why measuring the UN’s effectiveness is difficult; structural problems with the UN; where UN decisions are actually made; the UN is more than the Security Council; the value of diplomacy; potential UN reform; international security forum shopping; and Marcus struggles to summarize a Sherlock Holmes story

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Further Reading:
Farnaz Fassihi. 2023. “The World Has Changed, but Can the U.N.? Don’t Hold Your Breath.” New York Times.

Universal Postal Union. “About UPU remuneration.”

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