Christopher Preble

Bridging the Gap: Managing Expectations, Improving Communications

The effort to bridge the gap between policymakers and scholars is worthwhile and should continue. But advocates of bridging the gap should recognize that it is likely to have only marginal influence on policy. And they should be mindful of the fact that the entire endeavor, if taken too far, could be detrimental to particular scholars and researchers if it induces them to self-censorship or steers them into intellectual cul-de-sacs. In other words, as with many things, there is virtue in moderation. We should not want to see the desire to produce policy-relevant research to proceed at the expense of scholarship that is interesting and important, even if it does not necessarily have implications for contemporary strategic debates. And the urge to expand our appeal beyond a small circle of scholars who speak our language should not extend to dumbing down or oversimplifying concepts that are, in fact, complex, nuanced, and crying out for context.