One of the many interesting panels at the recent “annual meetings of the International Studies Association”:http://www.isanet.org/montreal2011/ was a roundtable on “Dan Drezner”:http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/’s book: “Theories of International Politics and Zombies”:http://www.amazon.com/Theories-International-Politics-Zombies-Drezner/dp/0691147833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301665455&sr=8-1-spell (published by Princeton University Press). Unfortunately, I missed the panel but from what I gather the discussions were heated; with presenters challenging Drezner for faulty empirics, his theoretical devotion to realism, and his failure to fully grasp the normative underpinnings of his policy recommendations. Perhaps the most shocking set of allegations came from UMass professor “Charli Carpenter”:http://people.umass.edu/charli/. Gladly, she has now made a video of her presentation publicly available on youtube, providing a unique opportunity for outsiders to see what academic conventions are really like. For more, see “Lawyers, Guns, and Money”:http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2011/03/my-final-word-to-daniel-drezner-on-zombies.
