As a result of Lebanon's open border policy, Syrian refugees now make up nearly a quarter of the country's population, placing an enormous strain on its limited resources. The government has responded with visa restrictions, placing new pressures on a vulnerable refugee population amid a prolonged political impasse, heightening Lebanese frustrations over a breakdown in services. Against this backdrop, United Nations (UN) agencies in Lebanon are working to address refugee needs as well as the economic and social burden their presence is having on their host country. The Middle East Institute and the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Stud
Are rigorous political science methods driving the discipline to policy irrelevance in international relations? Michael Desch’s recent article in Perspectives on Politics suggests it’s possible. Polling of policymakers also backs up the claim: those engaged with policy seem to have little time for the most sophisticated research methods. Moreover, these findings match the conventional wisdom within some policy circles that political science has little relevance to policy. Even some scholars turned policymakers suggest the same. While Desch’s conclusions are being hotly discussed and debated, the dialogue misses an essential point. As my time working both with government and conducting schola