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

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)

31 books — 5 voters

A GUERRA INVISÍVEL by Lucas Máximo Alves

Manufacturing Consent by Edward S. Herman

Hegemony, militarism and systematic inequality in the United States

108 books — 98 voters

A Businessman's Guide to the Wholesale Markets of Guangzhou by Christian D. Taulkinghorn

To Understand Contemporary China

35 books — 25 voters

The European Federalist Papers by Leo Klinkers

EU Federalism and Constitutionalism by Stefano Bartolini

Federalism and the European Union by Michael Burgess

Federalism

7 books — 1 voter

The Killing Season by Geoffrey B. Robinson

Foreign Affairs Books 2018

38 books — 5 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

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Humanities
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Quotes Tagged “International Relations”

“ Vladimir Putin pledges no allegiance to to the democratic articles of faith, but he does not explicitly renounce democracy. He disdains Western values while professing to identify with the West. He doesn’t care what the State Department puts in next year’s human rights report, because he has yet to pay a political price in his own country for the sins reported in prior years. He tells bald lies with a straight face, and when guilty of aggression, blames the victim. He has convinced many, apparen ...more ”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

4 likes

“ Far too many people—many of them academics, many politicians—continue to jabber about a supposed 'special relationship' between our two countries. I used to think that no such thing existed. Recently, I have become convinced that it does, and that it is in fact a Specially Bad Relationship. ...more ”
― Peter Hitchens

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