I’ve already asked questions adjacent to this in this sub, but I’ve seen a lot of people talk about how difficult it is to get work in IR with the current state of the job market. I realize my worries are likely extremely premature as I’m just a senior in high school interested in a career in IR/adjacent fields, but I want to know if it is even worth pursuing altogether. I understand it is not as a glamorous a field as many believe, and that it is difficult to work for the UN or as a prominent diplomat etc. My main interest is largely in policy analysis/the academic aspects of the field, but I would honestly be open to anything provided it is related to the field and is somewhat intellectually stimulating (and also pays a livable wage). I’m honestly a little worried about trying to pursue this in college because it appears a lot of people who studied it didn’t have careers that panned out in the discipline. So I suppose my central question is, is this field worth pursuing as someone who is heavily interested in politics and wants to have a career in it some day?

I'm in grade eleven and I'm wondering how bad the math is. I'm not the greatest at math but I can get by (if there's a formula), are the economics courses are hard? Im from Canada btw.

hi everybody, i want to apply for PhD programs abroad (Europe & Australia specifically) for IR next year. however, I'm very concerned about my CV being below-average and crushing any chances of securing admissions in reputed unis. I did my undergrad in Literature and did some good content writing internships back then, but I had no enthusiasm for the subject so for my postgrad, I opted for IR. I love my domain, and in the one year I've been in this arena, I've tried to do few credible research internships & paper presentations but I still don't have any publications and my experiences are limited. I have discussed this with some irl PhD scholars about the limitations created by my CV, and their opinions on the importance of research experience/publications are varied. Few of them say the research proposal is the only deciding factor on whether I will be selected or not, while others say that research experiences do have substantial weightage. I'm very conflicted, and I don't know whether or not to proceed with applications the next year. Any advice/help/insight would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

I am a student on a gap year and I love political science and international relations. I have a solid understanding of both and am looking to further my understanding. Are there any classes I can take or books I can read?

Thanks

The global compact on migration is the best effort at least combating the myths surrounding immigration but besides that. Have there been any significant efforts to revive YIMBYism ? I feel like with the effects of climate change , immigration will become much more relevant topic

Hey everyone, I've been wanted to do some research regarding Hungary's anti LGBTQ politics, investigsting the impact of transnational LGBTQ activisim on this matter, ussijg the Queer theory as a tool. I'm currently looking for material regarding all of the axes of my research:

Órban's anti-LGBTQ politics, as well as his focus on the traditional family and how his anti-Western view fits on this matter

The transnational LGBTQ activism, and how it actively helps mold Orban's politics for better or for worse (and vice-versa)

How the debate on Homointernacionalism on international politics fits on Hungary's case

I have been struggling to find some good material on this, do you guys have any tips?

Hi y’all, I have some knowledge of IR from undergrad (didn’t major in it though) and from covering foreign policy for work.

However, I’m not sure how much of a gap that leaves me to potentially get a masters? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m in high school and have been considering majoring in International Relations in college. I’m a bit unsure about where to start or how to prepare, though. Should I focus on specific political topics or keep up with certain news to build a good foundation? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi all,

I've been considering doing a PhD in Europe for awhile now, and the recent election results have spurred me to take this more seriously. I've looked at Sciences Po, LSE, and EIU, among others, but I wantrd to see if anyone here might have any other suggestions. For context, I'm looking to study conflict and sanctions, but am also open to a doctoral program if it fits my interest. I'm also looking for fully funded programs, which is another reason I'm interested in European universities. Thanks for your help in advance!

Yesterday, I was alerted to this article published in PS: Political Science and Politics in mid-October--that is, a month before the election--as part of a special issue focused on the 2024 US presidential election. The authors correctly predicted which states would go to Trump vs. Harris virtually perfectly, and their model (named the "State Presidential Approval/State Economy Model," also fit each election since 1980 with a similarly incredible degree of precision.

Below is the actual 2024 electoral map pulled from 270toWin, followed by the map predicted by their model:

Actual 2024 presidential election results

Forecasted results via the State Presidential Approval/State Economy Model

In contrast with previous models, which have relied on national-level data, this particular model is predicated almost entirely on state-level presidential approval ratings and economic performance (measurements pulled from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's State Coincident Index); the authors, however, do code several other variables to account for home state advantages, historical voting patterns, etc.

(EDIT: I initially included a screenshot of the regression table, but the image took up too much space--the article is open-source, I believe, so it should be quite easy to access.)

Speaking broadly, I think this indirectly undermines arguments asserting that racism, sexism, single-issue voters deciding not to vote out of protest (e.g. because of Biden's Israel/Palestine policy) etc. can explain the Democrats' loss in this election (though research on more micro-level voting trends is still important). 1) The forecast was made largely with data pulled 100 days prior to the election, which is to say before Biden dropped out, and their attempt to reforecast the election with Harris actually showed that she had a better chance than Biden (who they predicted would've had less than a 1/10 chance); 2) the racists and sexists were always going to have voted for the GOP, so such attitudes can't adequately explain the relative change in vote counts for the Dems, nor can it explain why the model forecasted a stronger performance for Harris relative to Biden. It really does seem that inflation was the primary cause for not only the outcome of the US presidential election, but all the elections that happened on November 5.

The authors' pull quote at the end of the article was especially sobering: "If Harris wins the election, we will not know exactly why, but we will know her victory surmounted conditions so disadvantageous to the Democratic Party that the incumbent president dropped out of the race. She will have added major momentum to the Democratic campaign and/or Trump and the Republican party will have squandered a sizeable advantage."

Is there any discussion about how Belgium arms dealing is interpreted in the international arena? My last "big book" was Regions and Powers, and my undergrad didn't have a ton on neo-realism, nor any of the dialogue which exists, around nativism and identity.

I'm curious how highly activist domestic groups which place restrictions (Africa and Arab nations), alongside strict regulations around Israeli deals can be interpreted?

• If you're open to share? What was foundational about this? Really?
• Where do policies versus institutional choices start and end, when a decision about security is made?
• How are EU or regional politics in general, compensated for? What is relevant about this question?
• And - for folks who think this isn't a test case - why? What is more important? Is it ever the case that arms industries or domestic politics , NGO, and institutional policies can simply align away from what theory predicts? Are there "modern city-states" to add a bit of prose to it? Why is this?

Are there any good Bachelors studies in IR that are online? Preferably and EU or UK school.

I’ve been wanting to study IR but I can’t bring myself to settle for 4 years at one place to go to school, as I have very different priorities.

It’s pretty hard to understand what online schools are reputable. Any reviews?

Hi everyone, does anyone know what are the career options for people who have bachelors and masters degrees in international relations in the US? And to be more specific, what are the career options that are not in government or in academia?

Hi all,

My girlfriend is getting her Master's Degree at Arcadia University in Philly. She is studying both International Peace and Conflict and Counseling. Her program is straight through fall, spring, and summer for the next two years. Have any of you completed this program? If so, were the summer courses online or in person?

Thank you!

In the few days since the US election we've seen several western-aligned countries (I'm thinking Europe and Canada here) signal their intention to continue working with the US to help contain China. To me this seems like an absolute own-goal given Trump's rethoric on trade deficits and defensive commitments with allies. It seems obvious to me that US-China tensions represent a source of significant leverage for third countries in upcoming trade/defense talks. What am I missing here?

I am nithesh currently pursuing my final year in engineering which I regret for past four years for choosing engineering and going to regret rest of my life I am very much passionate about international relations which I wanted to pursue after my engineering which is about to end in 4 months what are scopes,what are the jobs that I will get after international relations what are the government exams that I can write pls dont judge me for asking jobs specific I am very much intrested on IR but I need to convince my parents exactly what I will do after IR graduation ...

Hi guys,do you know some books good who talk about this since the earliest days of this conflict.Maybe if it contains even the relationship with other countries as well it would be very good.Thanks in advance.