The  Fall ACUNS newsletter’s article contributions take up an issue that preoccupies many of us. What is the relationship between the academic and the practitioner? What has it been in the past? What should it be? Of course, it is easy to overstate the rift that supposedly separates these communities. Many of the policy staff inside the UN, for example hold PhDs while many people teaching in leading universities have spent time in policy circles. Nonetheless, a tension remains concerning the contributions that academics and practioners (theory versus practice?) each make to global politics. Three able commentators leave us with food for thought on this issue. Please share your reactions on this subject.