Thread by @JKleinschmidtIR

1/ Having been an #InternationalRelations professor from 2014-2020 (now a researcher in Latin American studies, but still an IR scholar...), I kinda felt compelled to comment on this. I know it's perhaps not the intention of the author, but this does sound as if IR scholars...

https://twitter.com/neil_abrams/status/1650538626961534976

2/ ...represented pro-Moscow views on the #Russian-#Ukrainian #War in significant numbers. Now, in Germany, for example, there are roughly 120 tenured professors in IR and closely related fields such as security studies - according to this list from 2017: dvpw.de/fileadmin/user…

3/ AFAIK, only two of them, one since retired, have uttered opinions that are clearly supportive of the RU govt's POV. There was another, hired after 2017, and since dismissed for plagiarism🤣. It's a small community, I don't think there are more. Therefore, most likely, less...

4/ ...than 2 percent of all IR professors in Germany show Russian sympathies. That is bad, but it's significantly lower than RU symps' share in the overall population - depending on the state, 21-48 percent saw other actors as responsible (mostly US/NATO): ndr.de/ndrfragt/Umfra…

5/ In other words, it's a case of a few bad apples, and also mostly marginal ones in the discipline. There is good reason to believe that in the US, besides the obvious #Mearsheimer, we may be talking about a few dozen cases (among thousands of IR profs).

https://twitter.com/neil_abrams/status/1650539822610776066?s=20

6/ I am as annoyed as Neil Abrams is about their media presence, but given the numbers, they are not a problem of academia or IR as a field, but of #falsebalance in the media: Some outlets for whatever dubious reason feel they need an opposing opinion...

https://twitter.com/DietmarPichler1/status/1514967026196008973

7/ ...which leads to the irritating loudness of a few useful idiots/corrupt influencers (or whatever kind of problem they may have). #Climate science has the same problem, and it's not climate science which is to blame... but, of course, Fox News.

8/ Therefore, the call for IR scholars to "Close your laptop, go outside, and take a walk.  Meditate.  Adopt a dog.  Volunteer at a food bank" instead of writing about #Ukraine is a rather unnecessary jibe. Instead, encourage certain media to think...
readthedetox.com/p/dear-illustr…

9/ ...about finding mechanisms to improve their selection of external experts, and to make them more representative of the relevant academic debate. Bashing scholars isn't helpful in these post-truthy times when, in most cases, we're with the good guys. Tucker knows that, too ⬇️

10/ Also, a number of the (indeed disastrous) commentators (rightfully) attacked by Neil Abrams have absolutely nothing to do with IR (#JeffreySachs and the Newsweek journalists). That #AnatolLieven is also (justly) called out, despite his "deep knowledge of the region", might...

11/ ...dispel the myth that being theory-oriented instead of muddy-boots-on-the-ground & anchored-in-the-local-everyday is a driver of pro-Russian opinions among scholars. I am pretty sure that I could name an experienced area expert for every theory person among the bad apples.

12/ After all, #Mearsheimer's bizarre argumentation brutally contradicts his own theory, not just observable facts, as I demonstrated in this 2019 article (and in two other papers which are underway...): link.springer.com/article/10.105…

13/ On a side note, I am generally skeptical about the "local-knowledge-ÜBER-theory" idea that has been making the rounds mainly because of Mearsheimer (I think). There is no theory-free observation of everyday local reality, it's just that the theory can be implicit or explicit.

14/ Theoretical discourse and local immersion should be understood as stations in a virtuous circle, not as opposites of each other. Bullshit in, bullshit out - also works with theory, of course. So, if you meet your friendly local IR professor, say...

15/ ...and:

16/ The likely response will be:

17/ PS.: In no way is this an attack on @neil_abrams. I'm just as outraged by the people he criticizes as he is. We likely want the same things to happen. I just think he counterproductively misunderstood the location and character of the problem.

18/ PPS.: This might be of interest to @MattLightCrim @matthiasleese @bctallis @gloefflmann @frankstengel @PopovaProf @AleksandraSpal3 @PKewes @OPalmaM @MRymarenko @antje_wiener @DrDariaDanielsS @IvvyNemo @ODrachewych @VolodymDubovyk @CarloMasala1 @yannbasset @J_Kappelmann ...

19/ ...as well as to @HofiusMaren @dis_wer @WernerSchirmer @b_sendhardt @KMatrisk @ferezmanuel @takingaction4us @EHunterChristie @JulianStoeckle @MisraDevika03 @AuswaertigeA @TheNotoriousGNZ @quepenaandres @WmGlennGray @PhilippAltmann2 @ConorAJDaly @dhnexon @lucasdas2 ....

20/ ... @IvanUlisesKK @OByrska @TOClimates @brian_jphillips @irgarner @ALanoszka @briegp @fabiankuske1 @NKuhrt @BohdanaKurylo @MaxineDavid @steven_seegel @c_harig , and probably others I forgot.