Read on Twitter
Clearly an uncalled-for escalation by Norway. This will not go unanswered. https://twitter.com/emilyrauhala/status/1086273580432674817
It's a classic case of the Moose Dilemma. Actor A gets a big moose. Actor B feels uncomfortable, so, without ANY provocation by A, B gets its own, bigger moose. This second moose is not *meant* to threaten A, but A is anxious, so gets another, bigger moose. And so the sprial goes
Constructivists prefer to talk of Moose Status Anxiety. There was a discrepancy between Norway's self-perceived status as a moose power and the reality of its inferior status relative to Moose Jaw, driving it to revisionism (ie, overthrow the reigning International Moose Order)
Neocons be like, sanction the crap out of norway and, AS A LAST RESPORT, invade
Liberals suggest we should build the Moose Peace Triangle: develop the International Moose Union (favor technical exchanges etc), increase trade in moose parts (interdependence blablabla), and democratize (no 2 democracies with big moose statues have ever gone to war)
Mooses are what you make of them.
Sorry.
We also need to conduct a Gender-Based Analysis+ (GBA+) of the causes and consequences of the Moose Patriarchy.
What of the stability of a unipolar moose world? Wohlforth tells us stability would come if Moose Jaw builds such a huge moose, no one can plausibly catch up. Krauthammer, for his part, says the stability of Moose Jaw hegemony is due to its exceptional quality.
The gender studies people are, rightly, contesting the Male-Moose supremacy of this debate. Having conducted a GBA+ process, Canad's feminist foreign policy establishes a committee to study options to identify prospective locations for giant Moosette statues.
. @emilyrauhala empirically demonstrates here that the moose security dilemma is a real thing - see thread above for theoretical background: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/31/norway-says-its-moose-statue-is-tallest-what-load-bull-canada-retorts/?utm_term=.199ae73c03c6
See, @cforcese, we were on to something.
BREAKING NEWS: In a bid to de-escalate the Moose security dilemma, the Canada-Norway Moose Cold War reaches the Summit phase, as per sources: https://twitter.com/AmPelfrey/status/1092462664788267010
MORE BREAKING: sources confirm that the Moose Security Dilemma reaches the Summit Phase. We are now in 1987 in Cold War terms. I have to admit, this seems to validate the Liberal explanation: no two nations with Giant Moose Statues have ever gone to war. https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/canada-and-norway-hold-moose-summit-to-settle-largest-statue-debate-1.4319852
And to be clear, by "Liberals", i mean the theory crowd, not the deferred prosecution agreement folks. Kant, not Butts.
. @cforcese channels his inner Sun Tzu and cautions this might be a trojanhorsesque trick by the Norwegians. They wouldn't be the first, or last, to exploit a key canadian vulnerability (eh! Why don't you come in for a drink?).
ooouuuuuuuhhhh, the plot thickens, intelligence reporting suggests this may be a case of Foreign Moose Meddling by the Russians: https://twitter.com/dhmontgomery/status/1102232226622787584
*MOOSE TRUCE* We are in deescalation phase. Competing explanations:
-diplomacy works: Moose Summit allows belligerents to resolve dispute
-status seeking matters: Canada recognizes Norway as Moose Power
-compellence works: CANADA STARED THE BASTARDS DOWN https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-norway-cedes-title-of-tallest-ungulate-back-to-mac-the-moose-in/?cmpid=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
-diplomacy works: Moose Summit allows belligerents to resolve dispute
-status seeking matters: Canada recognizes Norway as Moose Power
-compellence works: CANADA STARED THE BASTARDS DOWN https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-norway-cedes-title-of-tallest-ungulate-back-to-mac-the-moose-in/?cmpid=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The international media is all over this: @emilyrauhala for the @washingtonpost explains why the two belligerents "lowered their antlers" and went from Mooscalation to Moose Truce: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/07/inter-continental-conflict-ends-peacefully-norway-agrees-canadas-got-bigger-moose/?utm_term=.fe0ba4572911
NEW EPISODE OF THE MOOSE DILEMMA (with thanks to @cforcese for the heads-up)
Quebec village chooses to bandwagon with Moose Jaw, realizing that balancing (internally by building bigger moose/externally by allying with Norway) would be sub-optimal.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/quebec-towns-moose-statue-wont-seek-to-supplant-moose-jaw-sask-s-famed-mac/wcm/acb9cfa7-2c8d-4295-9eda-3e6afe3a469d?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1571524045
Quebec village chooses to bandwagon with Moose Jaw, realizing that balancing (internally by building bigger moose/externally by allying with Norway) would be sub-optimal.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/quebec-towns-moose-statue-wont-seek-to-supplant-moose-jaw-sask-s-famed-mac/wcm/acb9cfa7-2c8d-4295-9eda-3e6afe3a469d?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1571524045
Will Quebec accept the emerging Moose Gap? (thanks to @SkinnerLyle for pointing this one out).
This is a critical test of how Quebec separatism is evolving: note that Desbiens, the village in question, is in Lac-St-Jean, the heartland of Quebec nationalism. This is CAQ country.
This is a critical test of how Quebec separatism is evolving: note that Desbiens, the village in question, is in Lac-St-Jean, the heartland of Quebec nationalism. This is CAQ country.
Randall Schweller would refer to this as a tripolar world, with three emerging moose powers - Moose Jaw, Desbiens, and that place in Norway. This is especially unstable.
The Moose Security Dilemma in a time of pandemic. What gives?
Canada and Norway have a very tense history of competing for Moose Supremacy.
Will a pandemic push them towards cooperation, or intensify preexisting competition?
First salvo by Canada here https://twitter.com/AmbBRichardson/status/1244099446922592256
Canada and Norway have a very tense history of competing for Moose Supremacy.
Will a pandemic push them towards cooperation, or intensify preexisting competition?
First salvo by Canada here https://twitter.com/AmbBRichardson/status/1244099446922592256
Unexpected pandemic-era (nature taking back, etc) twist in Canada's perennial struggle to maintain moose supremacy: CONTAINMENT FAILS https://twitter.com/CFRAOttawa/status/1266381826924384256
American meddling in Canadian affairs already underway: https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1266393010952187907
Update: Mooscalation averted. https://twitter.com/ctvottawa/status/1266407008430895104
Update: Canada really got its Moose kicked by Norway.
BREAKING: Canada and Norway appear locked into a spiral of uncontrolled escalation as conflict widens from only Moose to also maple leafs. They are *really* hitting us where it hurts. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-norway-maple-is-a-bully-and-shouldnt-be-confused-with-the-sugar/
Public mood in Canada turning increasingly hawkish in the face of unprovoked Norwegian aggression, as witnessed by this call for significant retaliatory measures by this retired Canadian official. https://twitter.com/rongarson1/status/1278036144324820992?s=19
Highly respected former Canadian ambassador to Norway, however, takes the position which most Canadians view (inaccurately, though that's a separate story) as consistent with our country's alleged honest broker tradition. https://twitter.com/Arturmaks/status/1278028600340557827?s=19
BREAKING: Canada takes provocative step in (recently dormant) Moose Race with Norway by admitting to what was so far a covert tool, the MDM (Moose Density Map). This opens up a WHOLE NEW FRONT in the Moose Security Dilemma. https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1298198693473144832
