Beyond the Ivory Tower: International Relations Theory and the Issue of Policy Relevance

About the Author Joseph Lepgold is associate professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Miroslav Nincic is professor of political science at the University of California, Davis. They are coeditors of Being Useful: Policy Relevance and International Relations Theory. Product Description Complaining that the study of international relations has become increasingly divorced from any real world relevance attempting to guide policy decisions, Lepgold (Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown U.) and Nincie (political science, U. of California, Davis) argue that it is both possible and preferable for international relations scholars to embrace policy-relevant scholarship. In support of this position, the authors discuss the different types of policy- relevant knowledge, how this knowledge is acquired and used, real world examples of such knowledge use. They also address the concerns of critics who fear that striving for policy-relevance could lead to a lack of independence in scholarship. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Review The book represents a major contribution to the field of IR theory because it destroys the myth that scientific value and policy relevance in international relations are incompatible. This intellectually engaging and scholarly work should be mandatory reading.