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

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

Why Taiwan Matters: A Short History of a Small Island That Will Dictate Our Future

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Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit

Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History

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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)

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

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

Aid Imperium by Salvador Santino Fulo Regil...

The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin

International Relations Theory

36 books — 9 voters

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

War on the Rocks 2021 Recommendations

84 books — 4 voters

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

No longer a veteran's list for learning about war

28 books — 27 voters

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

Nobel Peace Prize

19 books — 9 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

Femininity, Hypergamy And Leveling Up Books: Non-fiction

55 books — 68 voters

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Quotes Tagged “International Relations”

“ If blue helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. ”
― Andrew Thomson, Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) : True Stories from a War Zone

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“ 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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