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"

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

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

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

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Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History

After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made

Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine

Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit

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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

The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama

FSO Reading List

122 books — 60 voters

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 United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934 by Hans R. Schmidt

L'occupation Américaine d'Haiti by Suzy Castor

Books on US Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934

28 books — 6 voters

Cracking The Rich Code Volume 20 by Diane Merrill Wigginton

Informative Books on China

44 books — 16 voters

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

War on the Rocks 2021 Recommendations

84 books — 8 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”

“ Americans may say they love our accents (I have been accused of sounding 'like Princess Di') but the more thoughtful ones resent and rather dislike us as a nation and people, as friends of mine have found out by being on the edge of conversations where Americans assumed no Englishmen were listening. And it is the English, specifically, who are the targets of this. Few Americans have heard of Wales. All of them have heard of Ireland and many of them think they are Irish. Scotland gets a sort of ...more ”
― Peter Hitchens

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“ 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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