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

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International Relations Books

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis

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)

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

Perception and Misperception in International Politics

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

Cracking The Rich Code Volume 20 by Diane Merrill Wigginton

Informative Books on China

45 books — 17 voters

Aid Imperium by Salvador Santino Fulo Regil...

Decolonizing Human Rights by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim

21 Human Rights Must-Read Academic Books 2021

5 books — 3 voters

The Daughter of Kurdland by Widad Akreyi

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

Madam Secretary by Madeleine K. Albright

Women in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy

55 books — 19 voters

Disaster Capitalism by Antony Loewenstein

Private Military/Security Corporations

15 books — 10 voters

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin

International Relations Theory

40 books — 12 voters

Disputed Pasts by Cristina Buarque de Hollanda

Women of Wolfram Camp by Jenny Kroonstuiver

Gender, Agency and Political Violence by Linda Åhäll

Rethinking Political Violence (series)

32 books — 6 voters

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Quotes Tagged “International Relations”

“ War made the state, and the state made war ”
― Charles Tilly

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“ We have to examine the extent to which we export poverty to other societies. When we decide that we will import products from China that are produced by people earning less than a dollar an hour, and grant their country most-favored-nation status (political contributions notwithstanding), we are deciding to make American workers who must earn the minimum wage compete with them. I am not suggesting that we close the doors to China or to Mexico, but I am suggesting that we look very carefully at t ...more ”
― Julianne Malveaux

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