The Benefits and Pitfalls of Academics and Practitioners Talking to Each Other about IR

What I'm saying at the International Studies Association today

Photo by Product School on Unsplash

The hard-working staff here at Drezner’s World is in Montreal, Canada for the International Studies Association annual meeting for the rest of this week. One of the panels I’ll be participating in is “The benefits and pitfalls of practitioner-academic exchange.” Here’s the premise of it:

International Relations scholars are increasingly encouraged by funders, their institutions and publishers to produce research with policy ‘impact’. Indeed, scholarly research has affected how policy makers think and act within international relations. However, recent foreign policy failures have raised serious question for IR scholars about communicating their research effectively and without it being distorted. Think tanks, journals editors and professional associations have long had a role in meditating and creating connections between the academic and policy maker communities. This roundtable brings them together with scholars with experience of working with policy makers or in the policy space to reflect on the benefits and potential pitfalls of engagement, both from research and impact standpoints. The roundtable will also provide advice on best practice in engagement with policy makers, including through working with think tanks and translating your research to a non-academic audience.

This was, in part, he inspiration of the “International Relations: The How Not To Guide” special issue of International Affairs that Amrita Narlikar and I co-edited last year. Beyond that general theme, however, the panel chair asked all of us to weigh in on the following:

1. How to contribute to theoretical academic debates but ensure the research is relevant to policymakers;

2. How to write in a way that fits with scholarly journals but is also digestible to policymakers;

3. How do you split one’s time between spin-off publications (podcasts, blogs, op-eds, etc.) which speak to policymakers and academics; and, finally:

4. What are the roles of pillars of academia (journals, professional associations, universities) in supporting academics in straddling both spaces?

Do I have thoughts? I’m participating in the panel, so I damn well better have thoughts!