It’s somewhat of a New Year’s treat to have been nominated for the 2013 Online Achievement in International Studies awards over at The Duck of Minerva, a top academic international studies blogging forum.

Suffragio has been nominated for 2013’s ‘Most Promising New Blog,’ which is an incredible honor, given that Suffragio remains a one-man show for someone whose day job is outside international affairs.  So while my blog has always been a work of love rather than my primary occupation, it’s really great to see that many of my readers enjoy and value Suffragio‘s analysis of world politics.

And it’s been a lot of fun reading the other blogs up for various awards, many of which I was already familiar and some of which are new to me.

So thank you!

A little background from Duck of Minerva:

The 2013 Most Promising New Blog (Group or Individual) OAIS prize will be awarded to blog, founded in 2011 or 2012, that displays the most promise for ongoing contribution to the intellectual vibrancy of the international-studies blogging community…. Finalists will be selected by popular vote, which will run from 5 January-31 January 2013. We will conduct the vote via online survey. In order to register as a voter, email us.

So I’m not entirely sure who is eligible to register as a voter, but if you’re a regular reader and you want to help Suffragio obtain a little positive notoriety, by all means, please register and vote for Suffragio before January 31!

In the meanwhile, for anyone who has come to my blog via Duck of Minerva, see some of the top Suffragio posts from the past year below the jump.

Thanks again!

• 13 world elections to watch in 2013 — and — 13 up-and-coming world politicians to watch in 2013.  January 2. 

• Twelve considerations upon the DPJ wipeout in Japan’s legislative elections.  December 18.

• What can the internal gun politics of other countries teach the United States?  December 14.

• Five reasons why Silvio Berlusconi returned to run in the upcoming Italian election.  December 8.

• Some thoughts on Meles Zenawi’s legacy in Ethiopia.  November 29.

• Profiles of each of the seven members of the new Politburo Standing Committee.  November.

• Could Puerto Rico really become the 51st U.S. state?  November 7.

• What U.S. president Barack Obama’s reelection means for world politics.  November 5.

• Two systems, two transitions: China, U.S. face leadership crossroads simultaneously.  November 3.

• Red October? Four elections boost Moscow’s influence in Russian ‘near-abroad’.  October 17.

• But really: can Henrique Capriles defeat chavismo?  October 7.

• The other Sept. 11: the Chilean coup against Salvador Allende 39 years on.  September 11.

• Is the European ‘Christian democracy’ model dead?  September 4.

• What effect will the Québec election have on federal Canadian politics?  August 29.

• Lebanon remains tense after kidnappings, hopes to avoid Syrian chaos spillover.  August 17.

• The internal politics of the widening of the Panamá Canal.  August 7.

• Death of Ghana’s president John Atta Mills leaves December election unsettled.  July 25.

• Five reasons why Park Guen-hye’s frontrunning South Korean presidential campaign is defying gravity.  July 7.

• Why fears about the return of the PRI to power in Mexico are wrong.  June 25.

• From Cardenás to López Obrador: why the Mexican left just can’t win.  June 7.

• Three elections — and three defeats — for EU-wide austerity.  May 6.

• Could François Fillon have won Sunday’s French presidential election?  May 5.

• A guide to potential Greek coalitions (or, how we might end up with second elections).  April 13. 

• Next steps for the Russian opposition.  March 23.

• We’re all a little loonie.  March 6.

• We need to talk about Kevin [Rudd].  February 25.

• A historical look at Senegalese democracy.  February 22.