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What does International Relations consists of?

What does International Relations consists of? What do you learn there? and what you do after uni?
Original post by roganwalter
What does International Relations consists of? What do you learn there? and what you do after uni?


Courses will differ a little bit across different universities, so it also depends on that. Anyways, IR is a subfield of political science (or politics): you will most likely have courses in political philosophy, contemporary history, and so on... Then you will study scholarly theories of international relations, i.e. theories on how sovereign (and not) actors behave in their relations. Then, much depends on the modules you choose, and where you study. Some departments will have modules in international political economy, which is the study of the relationship between international politics and the global economy. Others will concentrate more on security issues. You will also likely take courses on specific countries/areas. Indeed, something you should learn is to look at international phenomena and foreign policy from different perspectives (at times, different means with a different scholarly approach, sometimes from a different cultural/political/country perspective).

Again, if you want to know more precisely, you need to give info on the specific courses you will/would apply to.

In terms of careers, IR is not a vocational degree (and there are different threads on this, so you should look at them). Consequently, much depends on the experiences you will do along with your degree (internships, research, volunteering), the concentration of your studies, and eventual postgraduate courses (postgraduate degrees are very common for IR, since it is a very broad subject and many top careers need postgraduate degrees). In general terms, the following are the most relevant careers:
1. Academia
2. Service in national (or local) agencies dealing with foreign countries (foreign affairs) or supranational agencies (for instance the EU). Obviously a career in politics is also possible.
3. Researcher in think tanks
4. International organizations
5. Journalism
6. Positions (often as analyst) in companies or investment banks
7. Positions in consulting firms
Reply 2
thanks! helped a lot, thank you one more time

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