Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Editor's introduction Michael Cox Department of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science When in 1994 I was asked by the Royal Irish Academy to become co-editor-a then two years later sole editor--of Irish Studies in International Affairs, little di (or the Academy) know that I would still be in the job come the next century! Bu ten years, I think, is quite long enough, and it is high time for me to relinquish t job I have very much enjoyed doing and pass the baton into new hands. I do so wi some sadness, because as most long-time editors of journals know, one tends to become very attached to one's charge. Hopefully, however, this swan song will no disappoint. Indeed, there is much in this volume to demonstrate to new reader and old reader alike that the field of Irish international relations is in fine shape. Certainly, the fact that an Irish journal can contain within its pages words of wisdom on conflict resolution by former Senator George Mitchell-delivered last year at the TwentySecond Annual Conference of the National Committee for the Study of International Affairs-together with detailed scholarly discourses on a host of questions, ranging from Ireland's perceptions of the Vietnam War to what MI5 had to say about de Valera, is surely one indication amongst others that the future is bright for those seriously engaged in studying Ireland's position within the wider world. I wish the very best to my successor. Irish Studies in International Affairs, Vol. 14 (2003), 1. ...