Why democracies don't lose insurgencies

[Ken White]

Whoops -- already used that line once this month...

I'll change it; I love inexperienced experts...

...because ... da, da, da - and you're off to the races. After reading through Lyall's articles, I can see why you are considering the topic. Bonne Chance.

See what I mean about the number crunchers getting it wrong. They almost always do.

Always hated it when my Commander was one of them; the intuitive guys just do it a lot better. No numbers or machinery involved. Ain't at, right Niel...

[Cavguy]

Because my degree is in Security Studies, papers tend to focus on the quantitative. I am less than impressed with the way IR "codes" history. I think Stephen Walt captured most of the issues well in "Rigor or Rigor Mortis?"

That said, quant has its uses but can be carried too far. It does tend to delve into "inside baseball" between datasets, coding issues, and regression. It's also why most policymakers pay little attention to "hard" IR theory.