Michael C. Desch is the Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations and founding director of the Notre Dame International Security Center. He is the author or coauthor of four previous books on US national security policy.
In this deep history of scholarly engagement with strategy and
tactics in the age of nuclear and guerrilla war, Michael Desch
shows how formalization, rooted in economic fads and fashions,
stripped common sense and practical utility from security studies.
Gripping, meticulous, and persuasive, his work is of equal value to
those who share his wish that academics may better serve the
state--and those who think the point is to change it."--James K.
Galbraith, author of Inequality: What Everyone Needs to Know
Michael Desch has written a fascinating account of the relationship
between the academy and the Washington policy community over the
past century. For the growing number of younger scholars who are
seeking to develop academically rigorous research that is relevant
to policy, this look back at how some leading figures in national
security tried to bridge the academic and policy worlds will prove
tremendously instructive.--James Goldgeier, American University
"Stimulating and thought-provoking, Cult of the Irrelevant brings a
valuable historical perspective to a subject that too often lacks
it."--Hal Brands, author of American Grand Strategy in the Age of
Trump
"The question of policy relevance has bedeviled social scientists
for the past century. This is a serious, sober, and well-researched
exploration of the issue."--Daniel W. Drezner, author of The Ideas
Industry
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