SAGE

We also talked to James M. Scott, Herman Brown Chair and professor of political science at Texas Christian University and co-author, with Ralph G. Carter and A. Cooper Drury, of IR: International, Economic, and Human Security in a Changing World, now in its third edition. (His relation to Reagan is a little more academic, having written the 1996 book Deciding to Intervene: The Reagan Doctrine and American Foreign Policy.) Scott acknowledges the fi ne line that exists in thinking and teaching critically about the administration without being critical of it axiomatically. "I live, work and teach in Texas," he says up front. "And so the political environment in Texas is, let's just say, less frustrated with the current situation than a lot of other places. Not un-frustrated, but less frustrated. And so I also have a deeply held commitment to the premise that I should endeavor not to be partisan in the classroom in any way that I can achieve that." Scott says his goal in teaching is to achieve what he terms "pointed neutrality," which he says is ultimately "equal-opportunity offensive" to all sides of an issue. As he details, "it was quite a challenge as we were watching, sort of live streaming, this strategy and process, or lack thereof, unfold in front of our eyes with the Trump administration. So my pointed neutrality is focused on two things. Number one, and this is true for both international relations and foreign policy, I try very hard to establish the historical context, the elements of trajectory, of continuity, of development, of evolution of approaches, how it fi ts in the pattern, in what way is the current situation like and unlike previous situations. The second thing that I do is to emphasize that students are entitled to their own opinions and interpretations, but we're not entitled to our own facts." I…emphasize that students are entitled to their own opinions and interpretations, but we're not entitled to our own facts. All that said, one fact he teaches is that "the Trump administration has abandoned the learning process of foreign policy decision-making in the United States...And I say this not as a partisan, but just as an empirical observer of the process. So all of the old reference points are really hard to apply—and that makes for real challenges when teaching international relations in the era of Trump." IR: International, Economic, and Human Security in a Changing World, Third Edition James M. Scott, Ralph G. Carter and A. Cooper Drury Perspectives on International Relations: Power, Institutions, and Ideas, Sixth Edition Henry R. Nau See page 15 for details. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Brussels, Belgium [State Department photo/ Public Domain] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [State Department photo/ Public Domain] International Relations 5

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