  We present analytic calculations of the electromagnetic torques acting on a
magnetic neutron star rotating in vacuum, including near-zone torques
associated with the inertia of dipole and quadrupole magnetic fields. We
incorporate these torques into the rotational dynamics of a rigid-body neutron
star, and show that the effects of the inertial torque can be understood as a
modification of the moment of inertia tensor of the star. We apply our
rotational dynamics equation to the Crab pulsar, including intrinsic
distortions of the star and various electromagnetic torques, to investigate the
possibility that the counter-alignment of the magnetic inclination angle, as
suggested by recent observations, could be explained by pulsar precession. We
find that if the effective principal axis of the pulsar is nearly aligned with
either the magnetic dipole axis or the rotation axis, then precession may
account for the observed counter-alignment over decade timescales. Over the
spindown timescale of the pulsar, the magnetic inclination angle always
decreases.
