In the Current Issue

Volume 136 - Number 4 - Winter 2021-22

Articles

Narrowing the Academic-Policy Divide: Will New Media Bridge the Gap?
Paul C. Avey, Michael C. Desch, Ana Petrova, and STEVEN LLOYD WILSON analyze the degree to which blogs and other online new media disseminate scholarship to foreign policy officials. They find that policymakers visit sites as supplementary news sources, not to engage with academic findings. They also find that policymakers rate blogs and strictly online news sources as about as useful as scholarly journal articles and academic books.

The Geopolitical Consequences of COVID-19: Assessing Hawkish Mass Opinion in China
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Joshua Byun, D.G. Kim, and Sichen Li examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Chinese public’s foreign policy attitudes. Drawing on original surveys fielded in China during the first six months of the global pandemic, they find that ordinary Chinese citizens are optimistic about China’s future global position, and that this optimism corresponds with the widespread perception that the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating China’s rise relative to the United States.

After Trump: Enemies, Partisans, and Recovery
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Christopher J. Fettweis discusses what political polarization in the United States has in common with the relationship between the Cold War superpowers. He argues that in both cases the “enemy image” warps perception of the other side and prevents meaningful reconciliation. Applying insight from international relations to U.S. domestic politics, he discusses the pernicious effects of the enemy image and how to overcome it.

The Psychological Roots of Public Opinion toward a Militant Group: The Case of Pakistani Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
Karl Kaltenthaler and C. Christine Fair explore the sources of public sympathy in Pakistan for Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. They argue that the most common and widely distributed factor influencing individual sympathy with a militant group is the expectation that the militant group will bestow a sense of personal significance on that individual.

Ages of Organization: The Emergence of National Interest Groups in American History
THOMAS T. HOLYOKE traces and analyzes the rise of interest groups in American history. He finds that growing economic activity the late 19th and early 20th centuries lead to the emergence of a robust group community, often in the form of trade associations mobilized to defend industries and professions against government regulation. He argues that this growth in the reach of government power also led to the emergence of citizen advocacy groups calling for even greater use of state power to promote social and economic reforms.

How to Cure the Ills of Contemporary American Democracy? A Review Essay
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Morris Fiorina reviews Lee Drutman’s book, Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy. While he agrees with much of Drutman’s diagnosis of what has gone wrong with American politics, Fiorina is skeptical that the reforms proposed in Drutman’s Save American Democracy Act could be adopted, and would have as positive an impact as Drutman believes in the unlikely event that they are adopted.

Give Peace a Chance: A Review Essay
Richard H. Immerman’S review essay of John Mueller’s The Stupidity of War assesses the arguments as insightful, compelling, and in the current international environment, essential reading. Yet he concludes that a final judgment on Mueller’s claims about America’s farcical U.S. behavior throughout the Cold War and after requires answers to questions Mueller leaves unaddressed.

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