Policy & Academia
Trapped by the Tradition: Reading Thucydides on Strategy and Policy
Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War has gained new prominence as the United States engages in great-power competition with China, as that emerging geopolitical competition is often explained through parallels with the ancient rivalry between Athens…
Embracing (Not Bridging) the Gap: Integrating Intelligence Analysis, Social Science, and History
Intelligence analysts, social scientists, and historians produce authoritative insights that often conflict, reflecting deep epistemological differences among these professions. The predominant approach to bridging the scholar-practitioner gap emphasizes…
The Meaning of Place
Geopolitics has shifted from contests over physical territory to competition in other domains like space, cyber, information, and nuclear security, even as traditional geography and a deep sense of place still profoundly shape international conflict. Francis…
I Was Wrong. Now What?
In his introductory essay for Volume 5, Issue 3, the chair of our editorial board, Frank Gavin, contemplates being wrong, the value of academic debate, and the importance of a society looking at itself in the mirror, warts and all.
Applying Method to Madness: A User’s Guide to Causal Inference in Policy Analysis
Jessica Blankshain and Andrew Stigler attempt to make the analytical tools frequently used in social science research more “user friendly” by explaining what it means to investigate causality. By providing a reader's guide to social science and policy…
Wars with Words?
In his introductory essay for Vol. 2, Iss. 4, Francis J. Gavin, the chair of TNSR's editorial board, discusses academic combat, debates over "isms," and how to truly advance knowledge through intellectual exchange.
Patterns and Purpose
In his introductory essay for Vol. 2, Iss. 3, Frank Gavin, the chair of our editorial board, writes about feeling like a scholar without a home, the challenges of publishing an interdisciplinary journal, and how to adapt best practices from science and…
Reviewing Blues
The chairman of our editorial board, Frank Gavin, introduces Vol. 2, Iss. 2 of TNSR and discusses the joys and pains of the review process, giving some advice for both reviewers and those submitting their work for review.