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Theory and the advancement of knowledge about war: a reply*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2009

Extract

Scientific research, because it requires the explicit, rigorous specification of hypotheses and the equally rigorous, explicit empirical investigation of those hypotheses, facilitates and invites penetrating examination, empirical replication, and intelligent criticism. Yuen Foong Khong's (hereafter Khong) commentary on The War Trap is an able, sincere effort at exactly such examination, replication, and criticism. He has raised important questions, the response to which may help to further communication and understanding between what Khong calls the behavioralists and the traditionalists. Indeed, if Khong's essay succeeds in re-establishing serious communication and cross fertilization between the ‘traditionalists’ and the ‘behavioralists’ he will have made an important, and hopefully lasting, contribution.

Type
Discussions
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 1984

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References

1. Mesquita, Bruce Bueno de, ‘The War Trap Revisited: A Revised Expected Utility ModelGoogle Scholar, (hereafter referred to as TWTR) a paper presented at 1983 annual meetings of the Institute for the Study of Conflict theory and International Security, UCLA, June 23–25.

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