Theories provide possible ways to understand events in IR. These boxes on “thinking theoretically”..

Theories provide possible ways to understand events in IR.
These boxes on “thinking theoretically” will encourage you to examine possible
theoretical (generalizable) explanations for several prominent cases. For
example, consider some of the biggest tests of response to aggression in the
post–Cold War era—Kuwait, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, 9/11, nuclear tests in
India and Pakistan, sabre-rattling in North Korea and the U.S. invasion of
Iraq. As you read about these cases throughout this text, ask yourself: What
accounts for the different responses by various states to these events? How
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Theories provide possible ways to understand events in IR.
These boxes on “thinking theoretically” will encourage you to examine possible
theoretical (generalizable) explanations for several prominent cases. For
example, consider some of the biggest tests of response to aggression in the
post–Cold War era—Kuwait, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, 9/11, nuclear tests in
India and Pakistan, sabre-rattling in North Korea and the U.S. invasion of
Iraq. As you read about these cases throughout this text, ask yourself: What
accounts for the different responses by various states to these events? How
would each of the paradigms interpret these events? Whose views were included
in the formal responses and whose were excluded?

                Theoretical knowledge accumulates through a
repeated cycle of generalizing and then testing or interpreting events. For any
given puzzle, various theories might explain the result (though none perfectly)
as a case of a more general principle or category. Each theory also logically
predicts other outcomes, and some of these alternatives can be tested
empirically. A laboratory science, controlling all but one variable, can test
theoretical predictions efficiently. Obviously IR does not have this luxury and
must untangle many variables and elements operating simultaneously. Since
knowledge of IR is tenuous in this way, it is especially important to think
critically and creatively about IR events and consider several different
theoretical explanations before deciding which (if any) provides the best
explanation.

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