I just graduated an MA in International Politics from a

>>35452866
do you serve espresso at your job or is it straight coffee?

>job
lol
I just sit on my ass all day right now

>>35452866
How much dicks did u suck ?

>>35452866
What do you think of Aleksandr Dugin?

>>35453276
every single person in all of history, recorded or otherwise, that has predicted the "end times" has been wrong. Odds aren't in his favour. Also anybody that thinks you can hlt technological advancement wil eventually always be crushed by the market.
>>35453258
1 virtual dicks quite often for about a year

>>35452866
Have you read anything by Mencius Moldbug? Is he worth taking seriously?

>>35453728
I haven't read anything by him, and generally I don't think "fringe" writing in general is really worth taking that seriously for practical reasons. It's usually too far down the rabbit hole and too blinkered to really be insightful, and more likely to just make you close minded by accepting it as of a sort of monolithic philosophy
That said, if you are interested in those kinds of ideas, you would learn a lot more by reading on Nitzche and on Hobbes. Secondary literature is less "cool" to have on your bookshelf, but you'll learn a lot more from it.
You might also like the books of DH Lawrence

>>35452866
>world top 100
...why do you even feel the need to mention this? Do you really feel that's impressive?

>>35454207
Social sciences are a steep curve.
If you can into maths you can into maths, no matter where you learned it.
If you're studying politics, sociology, economics etc., the difference between institutions and what you learn is generally pretty big. Or at least the quality of the teachers and the ability of the students to learn the intricacies of the topic is significantly higher.
I'm not realy that bothered, but its for context

>>35454388
seconded. I am studying history but the bar here is pretty low so I barely write any papers or do original research. On the other hand, I hear of history majors in more prestigious schools who have to write 50 page papers and stuff, no way I could do that.

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>>35454388
>If you're studying politics, sociology, economics etc., the difference between institutions and what you learn is generally pretty big. Or at least the quality of the teachers and the ability of the students to learn the intricacies of the topic is significantly higher.
which is exactly why it's weird you are bragging about going to a "top 100" institution

anyways I don't care too much either tell me about the cool stuff you study desu

>>35452866
graduated with a bs in mech e from a top 2 undergrad, working on masters at a top 10 grad school. why the fuck did you pursue international politics?

>>35454528
My main area of study is terrorism and I'm also interested in the nature of the state and sovereignty
I like the Middle East a lot, I think that's probably the most politically interesting region in the world, and I did my thesis on the (failed) reconstruction of afghanistan and wha it means to "build" a country

>>35454611
Pretty much it's what gets me out of the bed in the morning in terms of things I'm interested in, and academically I have a real skill for it. I find it very easy to grasp political concepts and to play with them.
Originally I wanted to be a chemist when I was in high school, and I wasn't bad. But when it came down to it, I could be a 3rd rate chem grad. struggling every day to master my craft, or cruise politics at the top end of my class
I think I made the right choice

>>35454611
someone with an MA in international politics is gonna do fine

this isn't a competition, grow up

>>35454634
>My main area of study is terrorism and I'm also interested in the nature of the state and sovereignty
>I like the Middle East a lot, I think that's probably the most politically interesting region in the world, and I did my thesis on the (failed) reconstruction of afghanistan and wha it means to "build" a country

So what are the causes of terrorist activity in the middle east, and what's the current American strategy against this? Is it true that the US toppled democratically elected governments in that area and replaced them with religious theocracies?

>>35452866
how much money do you make?

org

>>35452866
I'm getting my MA in IR from SAIS right now. Pretty sure that you're my bitch.

Can you pls fuk my boipucci? im horny

>>35454819
I think the most general cause of terrorism anywhere in the world is the disruption of normal social life and the ability of individuals to "get on". Terrorism has strong roots in poverty, but that's by no means the sole factor. The US, but also the USSR pumped an awful lot of money and weapons into the region during the cold war, and you really do have to go back that far if you want to see the roots of the conflict. in terms of US policy, yes, they topple anyone who isn't on their side, just like most powerful international actors. For a long time the entire region has been at war on and off, under iron fists of brutal dictators, and generally disafected. Terrorism that sprang up from this disafection felt by so many young men from society had been a real concern for the west since the early 90s, but 9/11 served as a real rallying point for bin Laden's radical islamic ideology.
tl;dr region's shit, governments are shit, people live shitty lives, but if you join a terrorist group you get to be in a cool gang with a purpose and nice things and friends and drive around telling people what to do

>>35454858
I don't have a job, still living off the student loan dream

>>35454884
>paying $50k a year
>every year
>to read books and have essays marked
who's the bitch?

>>35455026
>you get to be in a cool gang with a purpose and nice things and friends and drive around telling people what to do
ok I'm convinced
how do I join

>>35452866
What's the next step senpai?
Politics?
How are you going to prevent yourself from being killed in the great politician purge?

>>35455064
get yourself an ISISfu off twitter and a plane ticket to Turkey x

>>35455064
>tfw white ISIS member
Don't do it, not worth it

>>35452866
Enjoy your job at the State Department.

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>>35455152
>assuming I am white

>>35455090
I'm probably going to try and get a job with an NGO.
Somewhere sunny. Maybe latin america. Use my magic tall/white powers to get myself a QTina. I really just want to travel, so I think for a few years I'll try and build up my CV job hopping between those kind of help the kids/blind/whatever projects, then maybe settle down to a desk in public service or the foreign office or something.
Really I just want a way to see the world and get paid, so hopefully I'll be able to do that, live well, and actually have a purpose, instead of like a smelly useless hippy

>>35455026
>this much salt

Your "world top 100" can suck my dick. Only stupid people need to tell others that they are smart.

>>35454388
>Social sciences are a steep curve.

I'm not so sure. I'm about to finish a degree at a top 10 IR school and I felt like I just sort of coasted through it.

>>35455026
what was your actual master's about because it sure as hell wasn't terrorism

>>35455242
yeah it's easy, but don't tell employers that.
Having a social science degree from a "highly regarded institution" and a regular pleb college is the difference between silver and tin in the jobs market

>>35455263
"Why did state-building fail afghanistan? An analysis of the state-building agenda"
What do you want me to do, write a 4k word essay to anon's answer?
>hurr durr you did not give a full enough answer on 4chan to "why is there terrorism in the middle east"
jesus christ anon, you are full retard. There are entire wings of libraries dedicated to that question and you're getting upset that there wasn't an exhaustive answer on a korean origami board?

>>35455367
it struck me as remarkable that someone with a supposed degree in international relations would make a point of terrorism or conflict in the middle east originating in the early 90s

overall your answer was so general and not in any way related to the middle east that I thought it was an ass pull, which your hostile reply is making me still believe

>>35455617
Pretty sure he said the roots of it go back to the US and USSR pumping money into the Middle East. He's wrong, but either way he's not saying it originated in the early 90s.

>>35454388
>If you can into maths you can into maths, no matter where you learned it.

There are maths graduates from Berkeley that are slinging coffee at Starbucks. I don't understand why you're bragging about your shitlib politics degree from a top 100 university as if anyone gives a shit.

I have a maths degree from a top 30 school and my first job out of uni was in retail. Chances are this is what you'll be doing in a few months, that or volunteering with some non-profit "think tank".

>>35455617
>originating in the early 90s
I said it's been a big concern of the west since the early 90s, seeing as prior to that their main concern was the communist east
>>35455694
why wrong?

>>35455694
I didn't mean to say he said it originated with the US and USSR pumping money into it, I'm saying I found it very strange to make the point that "you really do have to go back that far if you want to see the roots of the conflict"

>>35455761
>I found it very strange to make the point that "you really do have to go back that far if you want to see the roots of the conflict"
because a lot of normal people I talk to don't tend to connect the two. they think that terrorism started in the middle east with bin laden and that other than the fact the CIA funded him, the cold war isn't much to do with it, because communism and islamism don't seem to fit together
I wasn't meaning to make it sound exceptional, but you'd be surprised

>>35455825
>artificial states
>geopolitics

Those are your answers for terrorism.

>>35455717
I'd say the roots of it go back to San Remo and the Balfour Declaration.

>>35455825
I'm starting to press x to doubt, but you still didn't answer any of the original anon's questions

For the record I think there's a good chance OP's telling the truth. Only because International politics is such a bullshit degree that you could spend 6 years in school and still come out not having learned anything.

Graduates in other humanities programs like history and philosophy tend to have a broader outlook and tend to present more well-thought out arguments.

>>35455853
>artificial states
well given that most excolonial territories are made up of "artifical states" (can you say anything other than the nation state is artifical really?) that's a pretty general reason. There is no continent on earth more riddled with artifical states than africa, and other than groups like boko haram and al shabab that take their cue from the ME anyway, it's not known as a big terrorism exporting continent
>geopolitics
that's literally the reason for everything in IR though?

srsly anon, these are even vaguer reasons than mine. At the end of the day you might as well just go whole hog reductionist and say it's class relations that are the reason for terrorism
>>35455854
There's really no point you can start from that isn't more or less an arbritrary judgement. If you're saying it goes back to the Balfour, then just say it goes back to Sykes-Picot, and another person can say the ottoman conquest. It never ends and there isn't an answer, but I draw the line at the ending of the cold war because it's the most recent, most major shift in global political power