What are some books you would recommend in International Relations and international politics?

I’m going of to college next year and I’m torn whether or not I should pair my degree with business or history, I am more passionate about history but I know business is far more employable in this job market. Any advice from people who’ve done this path?

I am a junior studying IR in a south east asia country. As I think I need something more than just IR, im thinking of taking a master degree on another major that may go with IR (to any extent). Could you give me some advice please? Thank u so much!

Hi, I am currently in grade 11 in an IB school in India. I want to Major in IR in University. I wondering if there was a way I could find good internships to gain practical experience in the filed. All the internships I found online are only reserved for students with at least a bachelors degree.

​

Any help and advice is appreciated

thanks.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Hello I’m wondering if anyone knows how a double major in IR and Economics would be beneficial? I’m thinking of a data science or finance minor (completely different ik). I’m leaning towards going to GWU in DC. I’m hoping that I can find a job at UN after some time in the field but I hear it’s extremely difficult to get a job at UN and even if, the pay isn’t really great Please let me know any other classes you think would be helpful/ any advice on UN prospects !!

Hi guys

Been feeling pretty down lately about my carer prospects as an IR graduate. I graduated with a masters in IR (merit awarded) in March 2023. It's been a year, and all I've done since is work in a bar in my home town and struggled to move on to anything else. I don't live in a major city, and I don't drive (yet, I'm currently taking lessons). Im honestly so stuck about where to go next, I desperately want out of this dead end job in a pub which does nothing more than provid me with money and no career advancement. I've considered volunteer work but honestly even those want some sort of professional experience these days which I just don't have. I wish I had taken on some work experience whilst at Uni but I know i wouldn't have been able to cope with study and work. Just don't know where to turn, or even which careers I am actually qualified to do with my bachelors in History and masters in International Relations without professional work experience - anyone in a similar position? Thanks for listening

Hey there,

I've recently completed my master's thesis in Political Science in Germany. Towards the end of my studies, I focused on IR, although due to Covid and other factors, by the end of my studies I just wanted to get it over with.

Now I am thinking of doing a second masters. One of the options I have is going to Hertie School in Berlin, which in Germany is one of the best schools for IR I guess, but it is compared to public universities incredibly expensive.

I also have some public programs which are a little more interdisciplinary, one focusing on war and peace studies, which iI think is really interesting, but a little too historical for me and one focusing on North America. I like both of them a little less than the Hertie School, but I am not sure if I am willing to pay that much money, especially since I already have a master’s degree.

I would love to go into academia, but am still a little unsure, that’s also why I think another master’s might be helpful, to buy myself a little more time. So far, I have been working in public policy close to the government, but have been relatively unhappy so far.

Do you have any advice for me?

Hi everyone, I'm looking for part-time staff to help with research on Asia Pacific affairs. Professional researchers, interested researchers and people with rich work experience can communicate with me. Articles on each topic should have in-depth analysis and insights. The compensation will be based on your actual workload and range from 300 to 2,000 US dollars per article. Let me know anyone interested.

Hi everyone. I am a 3rd year undergraduate studying international studies. My university offers a honours degree in political science and then a separate degree in international studies also a honours degree for Chinese language. However only a few gets accepted(for PS & IR). I have over the course of these three years been very much confused in what is going to happen after graduation, preferably what kind of job I want to do.

Since I was young, I always have wanted to go live and work abroad. So, when I chose this degree at first, I wanted to become an ambassador for my country in China, since Chinese is one of the languages I chose to learn. Last year, I had the opportunity to actually go to china on a trip provided by a program which was offered by the university. It was so much fun and made me want to return to china in the future. However, me, personally during the holiday had a lot to think about. I at first decided right before uni started again for my 3rd year that I am going to do my honours in IR.

However, I feel like I don't really think politically or really understand politics compared to other people in our course. All I know is that I want to maybe work in administration, whether for the government or whoever, as long as it has to do with international stuff/economics. I seem to kind of like/have interests in economics, since we had a module for it and I did really good/ understood the work despite not attending most of the classes and not studying hard enough. If I compare essay writing, I did better in my economics essay than I did in any of my politics essays. Mind you, we had no help/guide towards writing this economics essay. It could also possibly be that maybe the module was just easy.

Anyways, now that I am done blabbering.My biggest problem right now is that I don't know if I should do my honours in IS(which is basically IR) or Chinese(language). All I know is that I am not really interested in politics as in politicians, democracy, etc. kind of stuff. Idk if there will even be work for me in both of these stuff if I do my honours in it since my country is very high in unemployment. And honestly, this has me actually so stressed since my second year cause I don't know what to do and I keep on changing my mind on the mo this continue on and I have limited time to make a decision. Studying another degree is not an option.

Please give some advice.

Enter thoughts here.....

Do you think it would be better to work a little bit before I get my masters? Why or why not? And for how long would you recommend working before going for my masters?

Hi All!

Not an IR student. More an undergrad history student in the UK. Having completed my first year at university in the UK, I'm looking into internships with thinktanks, with several UK and US based ones that look ideal. Your CFRs, ACs, Chathams and RUSIs. Looking to understand what the degree of competition for these kinds of internships, and would welcome any insights! For context:

1. Initially left Secondary school in the UK (high school) and studied at a top tier uni in Italy for econ. Did pretty badly (not sure if I'll be bragging on about this on my CV), but did land 2 investment banking internships, both of which went fine.
   1. (I'm aware these aren't related, but they do prove I can work in high-paced, dynamic work environments that require consistent turnout of material + market research, plus - long, long hours).
2. After a year developing people skills in retail, started History at a top-20 uk uni, where I'm roughly top of a class of 200, though I need to double check. Apparently my American GPA would be c. 4.0
3. I don't have experience in the field of public policy or foreign affairs, given that I'm only 21 and have decided to go on this career pathway as of August 2023, yet I do follow Foreign Affairs, and other publications on a near daily basis, as well as Arms sales developments in the US, EU and SEA regions. I'm planning to convert that latter point, and my studies in a GWAT module into a personal research paper over the coming weeks.

I'm aware these positions are incredibly competitive, and so I don't instinctively have boundless degree of hope or expectations haha, but just looking for someone to share their two cents on where I'm at with regards to these applications, and perhaps what I can do before I apply again?

Thanks!!!!

Pakistan has more missions than India in 3 western nations - UK, Canada and Spain despite India having more diaspora, trade and overall better relations with all 3 of them. Pak has 5 missions in the Uk whereas India has 3. Pak has 4 in Montreal, India has 3. Pak has 2 in Spain whereas India has 1. It's not a big difference, but it's a difference nonetheless. Can someone explain the pattern/reasoning behind it?

I graduated last spring with a degree in IR but I'm still unemployed. After I graduated, I applied to Peace Corps and several think tanks but I couldn't get a job. There are several things that are working against me in my hopes of getting an IR-related job.

• I have a 3.48 gpa, which is pretty mediocre.
• I haven't done anything IR-related after graduation that could boost my chances of getting a job (I did volunteer as an online English co-teacher and tutor for an organization that helps low-income adult immigrants but I don't think that counts).
• After I couldn't get a job with a think tank or Peace Corps, I decided to enroll in a paralegal certificate program in the hopes of getting a paralegal job. I thought at the time that this would be a more realistic path to getting a job. However, I haven't been able to find a paralegal job either.
• My resume is pretty terrible and unimpressive in my opinion.
• Lack of interesting or valuable work/internship experience

I honestly don't think I'll ever get a job related to IR. Doing the paralegal certificate was a mistake and it has done nothing to help me get a job related to IR. If anything, it has made things even worse because it has absolutely nothing to do with IR. I would imagine most of you all will agree that I have no chance of getting an IR job and I'll be surprised if anyone tells me that there is still hope for me.

Vent post.

I'm a 3rd year undergrad student from a certain university in South Asia(not India) which I'm not willing to disclose. I was very passionate about studying IR till my first year but unfortunately due to the professors and the quality of education (even though my university is considered the best in the country) I have lost all my interest. Ours is a close-credit system and we can't select our courses nor the teachers nor do we have a teacher evaluation system. Can't even change university due to close credit system, can't even drop out because it's a taboo here and I'll basically be a social outcast if I drop out. My grades are average.

I wanted to ask, did you ever go through anything like this? How did you overcome? How did you choose a career path?

On one hand, Kissinger extended the Vietnam War and advocated for the Iraq War. He supported endless and unnecessary deaths in many countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Yet Kissinger is arguably the biggest practitioner of Realism in American foreign policy. He came up with detente which largely was in opposition to the conservative war hawks at the time . Kissinger was able to use the Sino-Soviet split to help Nixon go to China.

how much does reputation matter when selecting an undergraduate IR program? Right now I’m deciding between American’s SIS, Indiana’s Hamilton Lugar School, and Washington’s Jackson School if that helps. If anyone has any anecdotes or experiences with any of these schools I’d love to hear about them :)

Why aren’t the territorial disputes between the USA and Canada being dealt with?

Hi! I just graduated in Political Science from the University of Rome. This September I'm going to start a master in International Relations at Radboud University, in the Netherlands. I liked it since it offers the possibility to get a dual degree: once you graduate (it takes 1 year), you can do a 2nd year at American University School of International Service, in Washington DC, getting a master in "International Service".

However, I was also considering a master at the College of Europe, in Belgium, after the master in the Netherlands, instead of American University.

What's better in terms of employment and networking?

I am a first-year student pursuing a degree in International and Global Studies and am currently taking my second and final class focusing on IR theory. As the class gets more complex, I wanted to know how useful IR theory will be in the future (of my degree) and what key elements of these classes I should take going forward in my degree. Reading it feels almost useless, as it's nothing but ideas and thoughts, but I really want to make it practical. Would you happen to have any advice?