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Weird IR

Deviant Cases in International Relations

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. David Bell Mislan

    1. American University, Washington, USA

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Philip Streich

    1. School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Analyzes strange events in international relations that test commonly accepted theories

  • Engages readers of various levels with its use of a humorous tone

  • Explores otherwise understudied cases in international relations history

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 1-13

  3. To the Sea! Sealand and Other Wannabe States

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 15-28

  4. Beers at the Border Bar: No Shirt? No Passport? No Service!

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 29-42

  5. Stupid Things Our Leaders Say and Do

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 43-57

  6. DPRKLOL

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 59-80

  7. SCREAM (Soccer Rules Everything Around Me)

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 81-98

  8. Terra Nullius and the Neutral Zone: Not an Indie Band

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 99-115

  9. Island Living Ain’t Easy

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 117-129

  10. Gone to the Birds? Turkey Tails, Chicken Taxes, and the Global Economy

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 131-145

  11. Diplomatic Immunity…Revoked!

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 147-159

  12. What’s in a Name?

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 161-174

  13. Epilogue

    • David Bell Mislan, Philip Streich
    Pages 175-184

  14. Back Matter

    Pages 185-197
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Keywords

About this book

​The scholarly study of international relations tends to go over the same cases, issues, and themes. This book addresses this by challenging readers to think creatively about international politics. It highlights some of the strangest and rarest phenomena in diplomacy and world politics. Comprised of a series of vignettes and organized by common themes like nonsensical borders, quasi-countries, and diplomatic taboos, Weird IR encourages readers to think critically about the discipline without losing one's sense of humor completely.

Reviews

“Mislan and Streich take us down a rabbit hole of diplomatic oddities and deviant cases that strain credulity.  Welcome to the ‘Upside Down’ of IR—a parallel universe where you need a passport to walk out the back door of a tavern, a $2,000 winch ride to visit an arguably sovereign state fashioned from a seaborne anti-aircraft gun platform, and a sense of direction from an Escher drawing to determine whether you're in Bangladesh or India when in Dahala Khagrabari. But seeing the world from the other end of the looking glass is no mere sideshow, and this novel contribution is no novelty act. The authors guide us to new heights from which we can survey familiar landscapes with new perspective. Mislan and Streich are knowledgeable weirdos who breathe life into the otherwise-stuffy dinner party that IR can be.” (Jonathan DiCicco, Director, IR Program, Canisius College, USA)

“Mislan and Streich have long honed their skills as academic raconteurs, and this book is the happy result. Presented in witty, wry detail, they trace the weird outliers of International Relations theory that point to the blind spots in mainstream IR theories. More than an amusing exercise, this book offers an important epistemological intervention: in exploring ‘deviancy,’ we actually learn to question the ‘normal’ and shake the smug certainty of IR theory.” (Denise M. Horn, Chair, Political Science and International Relations, Simmons College, USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  • American University, Washington, USA

    David Bell Mislan

  • School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan

    Philip Streich

About the authors

David Bell Mislan is ​Assistant Professor of International Studies at American University, USA.

Philip Streich is Assistant Professor of Human Sciences at Osaka University, Japan.

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