New Directions for International Relations: Confronting the Method-of-Analysis Problem

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Why does the academic study of international relations have limited impact on the policy community When research results are inconsistent, inconclusive, and contradictory, a lack of scholarly consensus discourages policy makers, the business community, and other citizens from trusting findings and conclusions from IR research. In New Directions for International Relations, Alex Mintz and Bruce Russett identify differences in methods of analysis as one cause of these problematic results. They discuss the problem and set the stage for nine chapters by diverse scholars to demonstrate innovative new developments in IR theory and creative new methods that can lay the basis for greater consensus. Looking at areas of concern such as the relationship between lawmaking and the use of military force, the challenge of suppressing extremists without losing moderates, and the public health effects of civil conflict, contributors show how international relations research can generate reliable results that can be, and in fact are, used in the real world.

Reviews

This diverse and innovative collection of studies demonstrates that researchers engaged in the systematic study of international politics are continuing, after forty years of effort, to develop new approaches and to address contemporary issues. -- Philip A. Schrodt, University of Kansas
An importnat contribution to International Relations scholarship.... will therefore be a useful and welcome addition to courses on methodology in international relations. -- 2007 * Millennium: Journal of International Studies *
International relations scholars continue to produce inconsistent findings that impede scientific progress and have limited impact on policy makers. This volume provides a superb diagnosis of the problems involved and useful recommendations for overcoming them, along with some highly innovative and multi-method approaches to both new and old issues in the study of international relations. -- Jack S. Levy, Rutgers University

Author Bio

Alex Mintz is the Cullen-McFadden Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University and Senior Fellow in United Nations Studies at Yale University. He is the coeditor of Foreign Policy Analysis and an associate editor for the Journal of Conflict Resolution. Bruce Russett is Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations and Polical Science and Director of United Nations Studies at Yale University. He is past president of the International Studies Association and the Peace Science Society.