The Next Two Months at the ISN

Last week we crossed our final t’s and dotted our final i’s – i.e., we published the final entry in our inaugural Editorial Plan. Over the course of 42 weeks, we systematically analyzed many of the key themes that currently shape international relations and security studies. This walkthrough included numerous original podcasts, scores of commentaries provided by the members of our extensive partner network, and a range of special features prepared by respected analysts, including those from our parent organization – the Center for Security Studies – or by ISN staff members.

Given that we have just finished such a huge task, it should come as no surprise that we are currently reviewing what we’ve done and thinking hard about what our next Editorial Plan should look like, which we hope to unveil on 7 January 2013. While we are busy scratching our collective heads, over the next two months we will present a host of subjects that reflect both the spirit of the first Editorial Plan and our interest in building new content-providing partnerships with like-minded institutions and organizations.

We begin our transition period this week by providing a selection of articles from one of our newest partners, external pageTheory Talkscall_made. Over the past few years the founder of Theory Talks, Peer Schouten, has gathered and cataloged the professional insights of some of the leading experts in international relations. Our sample of talks this week features the observations of Kenneth Waltz and other frontline academics on the role of war in modern international relations.

After our focus on how war is being conceptualized in the early 21^st century, we will next consider how theories of grand strategy are evolving beyond the Euro-Atlantic zone. This meditation will then be followed by its opposite – i.e., how secessionist movements may upend current concepts of regional security and promote grand strategies on the most local of levels.

The challenges posed by emerging powers and secessionist movements will then provide the basis for an investigation into the conceptual, technological, and planning dimensions of modern armed conflict. To complement these particular investigations, we will finish our inquiries with a series of case studies that look at how some of the world’s leading military powers are attempting to develop the capabilities they believe they will need for the near to mid-term.