Where Have All the Theories Gone?

Abstract
The student who begins his study of international relations today is faced with a discipline that has changed greatly in the last decade. Some would say that it has matured to the point of being a true science. Others would argue that it has fallen into the abyss of data collection, technological quantrophobia and unenlightened description, never to return to the light of theoretical explanation. In part, such debates are healthy signs of growing pains in a young science; but there may be a disheartening aspect to them—one that is not immediately obvious. Let us begin by looking at the two sides in this argument.