Michael Allen

1097 words so far this month. I have a modest goal due to admin stuff, but it is progress!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

AcWriMo 2025 Creating commitments for productivity

Trying to commit to productivity in #AcWriMo 2025.

zubrin.substack.com/p/acwrimo-2025

It was worse than I imagined. Time to close that account.

What the hell?

Improving Tournament Pairings in Lorcana How to add more draw/play equity in how we pair.

Why we should prefer switch-side Swiss pairings over dice rolls in TCG pairings:

zubrin.substack.com/p/improving-...

At the edge of war: Frontline ally support for the United States military1 How does public messaging affect public support for, or opposition to, a U.S. military presence abroad? This study focuses on Poland as a frontline ally with an exceptionally high external security...

Given the recent Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace, sharing this recent article with @michaelallen.bsky.social , @flynnpolsci.bsky.social and Grzegorz Smułek where we explore NIMBYism wrt US troops in Poland in the context of Russian threats
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Happy to be in Vancouver for #APSA2025. This was our "troops as DV" paper that @michaelallen.bsky.social , @flynnpolsci.bsky.social , and I are finally getting back to. Thanks to @marinahenke.bsky.social and @mcfuhrmann.bsky.social for super useful feedback!

@xkcd.com Can we get an updated map of the internet? I moved offices, put up my 2007 one, and need a replacement I think.

In a German City Long Home to American Troops, Trump Era Tests Ties

I've had several friends send me this NYT piece. If you're interested in reading more about the complex relationships between U.S. bases and neighboring foreign communities, check out our book, Beyond the Wire, written during the 1st Trump admin (link in reply)
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/w...

Why Kissinger would have been a Fortnite champ − and other foreign policy lessons from the gaming world A political scientist – with a penchant for gaming – explains how Minecraft, League of Legends and Civilization VII can help teach key international relations concepts.

Why Kissinger would have been a Fortnite champ − and other foreign policy lessons from the gaming world theconversation.com/why-kissinge...
@bloomsburypol.bsky.social
@michaelallen.bsky.social

Is Chomsky a fascist in the Lore universe?! @ryannorth.ca

I know there is some constructivist work that approaches this in terms of how states learn/use legalistic language in speeches/international treaties over time. Regardless, I think I can push it further until it hits upon a true gem, but that will be for later. It did produce a neat table.

The ecology cross-application is that resource shocks cause system changes. There may be some novel theoretical arguments, but they are not new. The neuroscience argument posits that information loss occurs over time, and cognitive simplification processes exist in IR, serving as a driver for IR.

Each of these come with a testable hypothesis, an explanation, and the datasets I could use for further testing. I won't repost the full writeups (they are too long), but right now two of them seem too similar to existing research. Epidemiology is that conflict spreads through hidden networks.

I asked it to specifically avoid statistically likely outcomes, but instead use cross-domain theories to create novel insights into IR using available IR data sets. With some massaging, it gave me three cross-applications, one from neuroscience, one from epidemiology, and a third from ecology.

Listening to today's Econtalk podcast and the idea that if humans had an LLM's knowledge set, we would see more cross-domain insights instead of the statistically likely output (perhaps the difference between creative output versus statistically average output). So, I want to push chatgpt. #polisky

H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-28 on Allen et al., Beyond the Wire 21 March 2025 | PDF: https://issforum.org/to/jrt16-28 | Website: rjissf.org | X: @HDiplo Editor: Diane Labrosse Commissioning Editor: Danielle Lupton Production Editor: Christopher Ball Pre-Production...

Check out this amazing H-Diplo roundtable on our book, "Beyond the Wire." Thanks to Lindsay Cohn, @smsaideman.bsky.social, Sebastian Schmidt, and @cnwillis.bsky.social for engaging so thoughtfully with our work! @michaelallen.bsky.social @flynnpolsci.bsky.social
issforum.org/roundtables/...

The algorithm has decided that my book, The Gamer's Guide to International Relations, is half on Kindle today at Amazon.

#irksy #polisky

Not sure if this is a misspelling or the mobsters in this universe have very filthy guns. @ryannorth.ca

Boise State professor uses video games to teach international relations Video games are stepping beyond entertainment and into the realm of education at Boise State University.

I talked about my new book about gaming and international relations on the local Boise news:

I talked about my new book on the local news:

idahonews.com/news/local/b...

#irsky #polisky

At the Edge of War: Frontline Ally Support for the United States Military1 How does public messaging affect public support for, or opposition to, a U.S. military presence abroad? This study focuses on Poland as a frontline ally with an exceptionally high external security...

If you would like free access to the article, feel free to send me a message/post here!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

the country, 2) framing questions about basing by using the Russia invasion of Ukraine actually decreased support for basing, 3) there are NIMBY concerns for new military bases, and 4) exposure to US military personnel moderated the NIMBY opposition to basing.

About two years ago, @carlammm.bsky.social, @flynnpolsci.bsky.social, Grzegorz Smułek, and I conducted a survey experiment in Poland.

A few interesting finds: 1) Observationally, support for US basing was noticeably higher in 2023 than it was in 2020, when we last surveyed

#irsky #polisky

I lack chill.

#polisky #irsky

At the Edge of War: Frontline Ally Support for the United States Military1 How does public messaging affect public support for, or opposition to, a U.S. military presence abroad? This study focuses on Poland as a frontline ally with an exceptionally high external security...

People in Poland 🇵🇱 prefer U.S. military bases to be further from their homes, but contact with U.S. service members moderates NIMBY attitudes. New paper at @intlinteractions.bsky.social w/ @michaelallen.bsky.social @flynnpolsci.bsky.social , and Grzegorz Smułek
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The doors have ears and the

Chad Clay (@kchadclay.bsky.social), Joseph Lovell, Joshua Foust (@joshuafoust.com), and Amanda M. Rosen (@amandamrosen.bsky.social).

I look forward to having a chat and thinking about the future!

If you are at ISA, consider joining us on Sunday at 10:30am to discuss "The Gamer's Guide to International Relations." Andrew Szarejko (@szarejko.bsky.social) chairs with great discussants including...