New Year's Resolutions 2016

An annual Spew tradition is to make pie crust promises for the year ahead: resolving to do stuff that I may or may not do.

Last year's resolutions starts with a lie--that I don't make resolutions.  Blogging has encouraged this behavior as it means an easy post to write while ramping up for a new semester.

• I vowed to self-promote less, mostly as I didn't have a new book coming out.  I did promote the edited volume and the revised edition of For Kin or Country but not with the same gusto as the NATO book.
• I said I would write less, and this mostly happened as I am no longer as incentivized to write for Opencanada.org, and I didn't get inspired to write as much for my other outlets.  I also Spewed at a slightly lower rate in 2015 and no where near the early glory days  of 2010. 
• I vowed to read more.  Failed miserably unless one includes manuscripts reviewed for journals.

 This year's resolutions:

• To self-promote more as Adapting in the Dust comes out in January and I have a bunch of talks lined up this winter.  
• To read more.  Maybe with all the flying and perhaps with reviewing a bit less?
• To disrupt disrupting.  I hate the use of the word disrupt to discuss any new tech/idea/movement that aims to change stuff.  My first talk of the year will be at a Queens event "Re-thinking Pedagogy in International Relations in an Era of Globalization and Disruption", and my role is to be the scold.  This jargon from the tech world tends to overplay the impact of whatever is doing the disrupting and have been used so much as to become meaningless. 
• To return to the big network grant project. It has been on the back burner as I have sought money for my work and then for my sabbatical.  This summer, I turn back to the greater good.
• Keep on blogging.  
• Be a better co-author for some of my co-authors.  On one key project, I have been the obstacle to getting stuff done.  Indeed, I need to return to that project this afternoon rather than blog about my year....
• On the other hand, I resolve to keep on blogging and tweeting as it is going to be an interesting year with the book tour, with research trips to Brazil, Japan and maybe South Korea.
• I resolve to enjoy the hell out of my sabbatical that starts in July.  

I hope you and yours have a great 2016.