Regime Type Matters

Abstract

Rudolph J. Rummel always published just as R.J. Rummel but was well known in the profession as Rudy.1 He was a man of many talents, and to some of his readers he may also have seemed to present many different faces. He came from a broken home, yet became a devoted husband and father. He had an extensive academic publication record, but he also wrote six novels. He was an academic loner, but acquired a wide following, which has continued to expand after he withdrew from the academic scene and promises to continue to grow even after his death. He interacted with many leading scholars in international relations, but developed troubled relations with several. He started out as a socialist but became a libertarian or, as he himself eventually phrased it, a freedomist. He became a pioneer among liberal international relations scholars in his pursuit of the democratic peace, but he joined the neoconservative wing of the realists in his work on the nuclear arms race in the mid-1970s and in his support for the Iraq War in 2003. His work on democide was embraced by liberals and realists alike, but also harshly criticized by writers of varying backgrounds. The main aim of this book is to review his work and to assess the development of his views over the span of his career. At the same time, several contributors relate his academic and political views to his personal life story. The authors of this volume share the view that despite what quibbles or even quarrels they might have with some of his writings, Rummel stands as a very significant contributor to the empirical and theoretical study of human conflict. At the same time, he was an intensely political person who has influenced the moral compass of many scholars in the profession.