A field that explores the complex issues that govern global society. Students studying international relations develop an understanding of how different societies work together – or in opposition to each other – shaping crucial global outcomes like peace, economic growth and solutions to major challenges such as climate change.
The belief in the inherent political sovereignty of a particular group of people, usually a nation comprising a dominant ethnicity. This belief has led to the development of state systems whose borders match those of the nation and which have been shaped by the needs of empires. It has also resulted in the formation of international organisations – such as the United Nations – which have been created to deal with global challenges.
International relations is a broad discipline and there are many competing theories of its workings. The majority of these are descriptive, explaining how international systems function through the actions of individual states and their interactions with one another.
More recently, researchers have been exploring more fundamental issues such as the causes of war and peace, power and influence, and the nature of international law. These are often informed by more philosophical approaches such as post-structuralism, feminism and Marxism.
As a consequence of the increased popularization of international politics, research and educational institutions have developed around the subject. These include the founding of Foreign Affairs, seen as US policy establishment orientated in 1922, World Politics in 1948 and International Studies Quarterly (which has been at the forefront of work using quantitative methods) in 1957.