Excellent observations. It is a common dilemma in government in IR and elsewhere that the advising experts over-rate their models and under-rate their official audience's intelligent judgement. As a result the experts serve up simplistic models not subtle stories. And the decision-makers turn away in frustration and fake it with spin doctors fairy tales. So much depends on telling governments better stories!! But i think you under-rate the subtlety of stories, and the fundamental importance of narrative to social cognition. A good story - or historical narrative - contains more useful intelligence for political judgment than a thousand dumbed down 'realist' game theorised models. IR does not only have a communication problem. It has a notorious failure of historical understanding. Love your work.
Thanks for the comment. I’m trying now to write a paper on a current international relations issue and the role of stories - using stories! It’ll be hard to get anyone to publish i (cos academics prefer stories to be hidden by inane facts and stats), but you never know :)
Excellent observations. It is a common dilemma in government in IR and elsewhere that the advising experts over-rate their models and under-rate their official audience's intelligent judgement. As a result the experts serve up simplistic models not subtle stories. And the decision-makers turn away in frustration and fake it with spin doctors fairy tales. So much depends on telling governments better stories!! But i think you under-rate the subtlety of stories, and the fundamental importance of narrative to social cognition. A good story - or historical narrative - contains more useful intelligence for political judgment than a thousand dumbed down 'realist' game theorised models. IR does not only have a communication problem. It has a notorious failure of historical understanding. Love your work.
Thanks for the comment. I’m trying now to write a paper on a current international relations issue and the role of stories - using stories! It’ll be hard to get anyone to publish i (cos academics prefer stories to be hidden by inane facts and stats), but you never know :)