Inquiry, Logic, and
International Politics
Benjamin A. Most and Harvey Starr
With a New Preface by Harvey Starr
Through the use of logic, simulation, and empirical data, Benjamin A. Most and Harvey
Starr develop and demonstrate a nuanced and more appropriate conceptualization of
explanation in international relations and foreign policy in Inquiry, Logic, and International Politics. They demonstrate that a concern with the logical underpinnings of
research raises a series of theoretical, conceptual, and epistemological issues that must
be addressed if theory and research design are to meet the challenges of cumulation
in the study of international relations (or any area of social science). The authors argue
for understanding the critical, yet subtle, interplay of the elements with a research triad
composed of theory, logic, and method.
Benjamin A. Most was an associate professor of political science at the University of
Iowa at the time of his death in 1986. After receiving his doctorate from Indiana University, he taught at Brown University before moving to Iowa. Most distinguished himself
as an expert in the study of war and international conflict, methodology, and research
design and published in the area of comparative public policy, focusing primarily on
Latin America. His work was presented in numerous articles appearing in the leading
journals of the field.
Harvey Starr is the Dag Hammarskjöld Professor in International Affairs Emeritus at
the University of South Carolina and is known for his expertise in the study of conflict,
geopolitics, international relations theory, and the logic of inquiry. He is the author
or co-author of eighteen books and almost one hundred articles and chapters, with
recent books on the Israeli conflict system and on failed states. Starr has served as
president and vice-president of the International Studies Association, president of the
Peace Science Society (International), vice-president of the American Political Science
Association, and president of the Conflict Processes Section of the American Political
Science Association.
August 2015, 268 pages
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