International Relations

International relations (IR) or international affairs, depending on academic institution, is either a field of political science, an interdisciplinary academic field similar to global studies, or an entirely independent academic discipline in which students take a variety of internationally focused courses in social science and humanities disciplines. In all cases, the field studies relationships between political entities (polities) such as sovereign states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), other non-governmental organizations (NGO International relations (IR) or international affairs, depending on academic institution, is either a field of political science, an interdisciplinary academic field similar to global studies, or an entirely independent academic discipline in which students take a variety of internationally focused courses in social science and humanities disciplines. In all cases, the field studies relationships between political entities (polities) such as sovereign states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs), and the wider world-systems produced by this interaction. International relations is an academic and a public policy field, and so can be positive and normative, because it analyses and formulates the foreign policy of a given state.

As political activity, international relations dates from the time of the Greek historian Thucydides (c. 460–395 BC), and, in the early 20th century, became a discrete academic field (no. 5901 in the 4-digit UNESCO Nomenclature) within political science. In practice, international relations and international affairs forms a separate academic program or field from political science, and the courses taught therein are highly interdisciplinary.

For example, international relations draws from the fields of: technology and engineering, economics, communication studies, history, international law, demography, philosophy, geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, criminology, psychology, gender studies, cultural studies, culturology, and diplomacy. The scope of international relations comprehends globalization, diplomatic relations, state sovereignty, international security, ecological sustainability, nuclear proliferation, nationalism, economic development, global finance, as well as terrorism and organized crime, human security, foreign interventionism, and human rights, as well, as, more recently, comparative religion. ...more

Most Read This Week Tagged "International Relations"

Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World

Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare

The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World

38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia

The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization

House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

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International Relations Books

Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (Politics of Place, #1)

The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations

Arms and Influence (The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series)

Perception and Misperception in International Politics

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

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Lists

Building Power In Babylon by Courtney Sharpe

Sleeping With the Enemy by Edouard Prisse

Thinking Historically by Francis J. Gavin

Strategy

26 books — 3 voters

The Concept of the Political by Carl Schmitt

Nuclear North Korea’s War Scenarios by Hwee-rhak Park

International Relations

9 books — 3 voters

The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama

FSO Reading List

122 books — 60 voters

Nuclear Weapons Free World - Peace on the Earth by Amit Ray

Nobel Peace Prize

19 books — 9 voters

I Love My Doctor, But... by Lawrence W. Gold

No longer a veteran's list for learning about war

28 books — 27 voters

International Relations by Joshua S. Goldstein

Essentials of International Relations by Karen A. Mingst

Foreign Service

3 books — 2 voters

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Quotes Tagged “International Relations”

“ We’ve started and won two atomic wars since 2022! Is it because we’re having so much fun at home we’ve forgotten the world? Is it because we’re so rich and the rest of the world’s so poor and we just don’t care if they are? I’ve heard rumors; the world is starving, but we’re well fed. Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we’re hated so much? I’ve heard the rumors about hate, too, once in a long while, over the years. Do you know why? I don’t, that’s sure! ”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

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“ More broadly, it is vital for leaders to work across international boundaries to minimize the number of people who feel the need to leave their home countries in the first place. That requires building healthy democracies, fostering peace, and generating prosperity from the ground up. However, success in that endeavor demands a way of looking at the world that recognizes the humanity we share with one another, and the interests that nations have in common. Those who are content to look inward, a ...more ”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

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