Guide to the Scientific Study of International Processes

This edited volume offers students and researchers in international relations a wide–ranging survey of SSIP, the well established analytical approach to IR that employs rigorous methodology. Both strands of SSIP are represented here, one devoted to the collection and analysis of data, the other concerned with developing IR theories using mathematical models. SSIP has traditionally focused on issues related to security and conflict, yet this book reflects recent developments, which include a growing emphasis on   civil wars, and   models linking domestic and international processes.  Separate sections deal with methodology, substantive topics in conflict and cooperation, and lastly, what SSIP has brought to our understanding of IR, as well as likely directions for future research. The book provides readers with valuable insights into the datasets, methodological advances, formal models, and theoretical arguments advanced by the SSIP research community. As the successes enjoyed by the SSIP approach raise its profile in the academic literature, this volume will introduce a new generation of researchers to the many applications of empirical techniques in IR.

Acknowledgments vii About the Contributors ix Editors’ Introduction xiii Sara McLaughlin Mitchell, Paul F. Diehl, and James D. Morrow Section I The SSIP Approach 1 1 The Origins and Evolution of SSIP: How Methods Met Models, with a Short Interlude 3 Kelly M. Kadera and Dina Zinnes 2 Game Theory and Other Modeling Approaches 23 Frank C. Zagare and Branislav L. Slantchev 3 Review of Available Data Sets 43 Paul R. Hensel 4 Teaching the Scientific Study of International Politics 63 D. Scott Bennett 5 The Interaction of Theory and Data 81 James D. Morrow Section II Causes of Interstate and Intrastate War 91 6 Systemic Theories of Conflict 93 Karen Rasler and William R. Thompson 7 Territory and Geography 115 Jaroslav Tir and John A. Vasquez 8 The Quest for Security: Alliances and Arms 135 Brett Ashley Leeds and T. Clifton Morgan 9 Programmatic Research on the Democratic Peace 151 Steve Chan 10 Domestic–International Conflict Linkages 171 Will H. Moore and Ahmer Tarar 11 Civil Wars 189 Idean Salehyan and Clayton L. Thyne 12 The Conduct and Consequences of War 209 Alyssa K. Prorok and Paul K. Huth 13 The Durability of Peace 233 Caroline A. Hartzell and Amy Yuen Section III The Future of SSIP 251 14 The Past and Future of the Scientific Study of International Politics 253 Zeev Maoz Index 271

Sara McLaughlin Mitchell is Professor of Political Science and Collegiate Scholar at the University of Iowa, USA. Co–director of the Issue Correlates of War Project and associate editor of Foreign Policy Analysis, she has published more than two dozen journal articles and book chapters and Domestic Law Goes Global: Legal Traditions and International Courts (2011). Paul F. Diehl  is Henning Larsen Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, USA. He has held faculty positions at the University of Georgia and SUNY–Albany. His recent books include The Dynamics of International Law   (2010), Evaluating Peace Operations (2010), and The Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent World (2010).   James D. Morrow is Professor of Political Science and Research Professor at the University of Michigan, USA. He is the author of The Logic of Political Survival (2003) and Game Theory for Political Scientists (1994) as well as more than 30 articles in refereed journals and numerous other publications.