This book takes radical aim at the conventional conduct of international relations analysis. It reexamines the role of ideas, the usefulness of psychoanalysis, the rage for and at rational choice, the influence of the public on foreign policy, counterinsurgency evangelism, and development orthodoxies at the national and genetic levels. Drawing a bead on conceptual blind spots prevalent both inside and outside the academy, the book urges scholars to reflect on how inner worlds shape the actions of their subjectsand their own research analyses, as well.

Reintroduces neglected psychoanalytic insights into International Relations Demonstrates vibrant critical theory alternatives to formal models Challenges mainstream shibboleths and academic groupthink in political science Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Kurt Jacobsen is a journalist, award-winning filmmaker, and an Associate (formerly Research Associate and Lecturer) in the Program for International Politics, Economics and Security (PIPES) at the University of Chicago. He also has taught at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Rutgers University, Imperial College London and has been a Visiting Scholar at the London School of Economics on many occasions. He is the author or editor of ten books.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Politics All The Way Down.- 2. Perestroika in American Political Science.- 3. Dueling Constructivisms: A Postmortem on the Ideas Debate in IR/IPE.- 4. Why Do States (Bother to) Deceive?: Managing Trust at Home and Abroad.-5. COIN Flips: Counterinsurgency and American International Relations.- 6. Why Freud Matters: Psychoanalysis and IR Revisited.- 7. The Mystique of Genetic Correctness.- 8. Loose Ends: Considerations on the Aftermaths of the Celtic Tiger and the 'Northern Troubles'.- 9. Conclusion.