Real World Policy Projects in International Relations Krista E. Wiegand University of tennessee

The Gap How significant is the gap between academic IR and foreign policy? 85% see a gap Should there be more effort to bridge the gap? How can academics address the gap?

Academics vs. Policy Scholars work toward achieving tenure and/or strong evaluations in their departments Scholars increasingly use quantitative methods to test theories Policy relevance not given priority in academic research Policy makers don’t understand or care about academic methodology or literature reviews Policy makers want brief pieces of informative assessment, in timely manner

Bridging the Gap Gap between scholars/academics and foreign policy world Grant funded programs at American University to help bridge the gap for faculty and graduate students Engaging with think tanks like Council for Relations can help bridge the gap Objective is to encourage research & teaching that addresses policy challenges Identify areas where foreign policy debates overlap with academic research/teaching

Bridging the Gap Policy relevant research should be: 1) Diagnostic – policy makers need to assess nature of the problems they face, warning signs, and trends they are seeing – IR academics can help with this 2) Prescriptive – academics figuring out the best strategies for policy makers to pursue, providing declarative advice, recommendations 3) Lesson drawing – academics studying failed policies of the past

What policy makers want - poll Policy challenges are “real time, in the moment, situational.” Policymakers do follow social scientific research on national security BUT academic scholarship does NOT trickle down to policy world Policymakers prefer qualitative research, do not understand quantitative methods as much Quantitative work in conflict resolution considered “a complete waste” BUT public opinion polling analysis was seen as useful Policy makers do not want academics IN policymaking roles, but as advisors, thinkers of new knowledge Most useful writing is done by practitioners and journalists Most academic IR work looks at recent history, NOT current events/issues Policy makers do NOT want to know what happens “most of the time”

Teaching IR & Foreign Policy Teaching international studies courses involves choices about how theoretical or how policy relevant the focus should be Theories of realism, liberal institutionalism, rational choice, domestic politics, constructivism – is this the best approach? Intro to IR textbooks use variety of approaches, some including foreign policy more than others Graduate programs in particular vary widely – should emphasis be academic or about foreign policy? Avey & Desch Table 9 – comparison of academic and policymaker rankings of IR programs Study of IR provides “intellectual background”

Questions Is it the responsibility of academics to engage in policy challenges? How do we balance academic scholarship with policy relevant work and teaching? How do we stay out of “politics” while teaching about real world events and politics? Does it help our students learn about IR more effectively to engage in policy issues?

Diplomacy Lab Sponsored by U.S. Department of State University-State partnership Objective – to bridge academic research and foreign policy making Provides policy makers with free outsourced research/assessment/analysis on particular topics Multidisciplinary focus of topics Provides professors and students with opportunity to directly engage in policy challenges and with policymakers themselves – video conferences Each semester – new list of topics to address Selected universities involved – universities can apply Can use Diplomacy Lab model in classroom even without partnership

Success of US mediation in civil wars Semester long project Quantitative analysis of datasets about mediation in civil wars Each class period spent some time on project Students formed groups with specific tasks A lot of time spent on what research has already been done, what is missing, what factors could explain success of mediation, which datasets were the best to use, how to conduct analysis, etc. Students learned how academic research can be utilized and practical for policy makers

In the classroom Come up with actionable points/recommendations that policy makers can pursue Students can read IR blogs: Monkey Cage, Political Violence at a Glance Diplomacy Lab type class project (semester long or part of the semester) Use National Security Archives – George Washington University Teach students how to write policy briefs – use think tanks Use Model Diplomacy and other resources from Council on Foreign Relations Campus Invite Congressional aides from Congressmen on Foreign Relations committee to come visit campus/conference call to class

Questions & Discussion