What is international relations, why would you study it, and where is the best place to study, intern or work abroad?

What is international relations?

• International relations studies how political communities, governments, organizations, companies, and people interact across borders.
• The field looks at questions of power, cooperation, conflict, diplomacy, trade, law, security, development, migration, climate, and global institutions.
• It is an interdisciplinary study field that combines political science, history, economics, law, sociology, geography, and area studies to understand international change.

What are the main reasons for being active in the field of  international relations?

• The field often attracts people who want to understand how decisions in one country affect people, institutions, and societies elsewhere.
• International relations gives language and structure to complex events such as conflict, sanctions, humanitarian crises, trade disputes, migration, and global health issues.
• The discipline is relevant in contexts where different legal systems, political cultures, economic interests, and historical experiences meet.
• Study or work experience abroad can make abstract themes more concrete, especially when observing policy, diplomacy, development, or civil society from another setting.
• The field helps build a careful way of thinking about international problems without reducing them to one country, one actor, or one simple explanation.

What skills do you need to participate in international relations?

• To analyse: international relations often involves reading complex situations, comparing sources, and identifying patterns behind political or economic developments.
• To form an opinion: the field requires weighing evidence, recognizing uncertainty, and developing a reasoned view on sensitive international questions.
• To communicate: diplomacy, policy work, research, and advocacy all depend on clear writing and careful spoken communication across cultural and institutional boundaries.
• To be aware of your surroundings: international work benefits from attention to local context, social signals, political sensitivities, and the limits of outside interpretation.
• To have integrity: the field often deals with public trust, human rights, confidential information, and decisions that can affect vulnerable groups.
• To collaborate: many international issues are addressed through teams that bring together governments, NGOs, researchers, local partners, and international organizations.

What motivates people to study or work in international relations?

• Be and feel involved: the field tends to appeal to people who want to follow public affairs and understand how international decisions are shaped.
• Be and feel connected: international relations often links personal interests in cultures, languages, politics, and societies with wider global developments.
• Be and feel meaningful with a sense of purpose: many people are drawn to the field because it touches on peace, justice, cooperation, inequality, and responsible governance.
• Be and feel experienced: study or internship settings abroad can deepen understanding by showing how institutions and societies work in daily practice.
• Be and feel self-aware: the discipline invites reflection on one’s own assumptions, national perspective, privileges, and blind spots when interpreting global affairs.

What are the best countries and locations to study, intern or work in international relations abroad?

• Countries and cities with strong international organization, diplomacy, and policy environments: Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, New York.
• Countries with long diplomatic, legal, and political traditions in international affairs: France, Germany, United Kingdom: England, Scotland to Wales, Austria.
• Locations where regional politics, security, migration, and development questions are especially visible: Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Kenya.
• Countries with important perspectives on global governance, trade, development, and changing power relations: India, China, South Africa, Brazil.
• Regions where climate, small-state diplomacy, maritime security, and environmental governance form important international themes: The Pacific, Fiji, The Caribbean, Barbados.

Where can you find work experience and vacancies for jobs, internships, and voluntary work in international relations abroad?

• Government institutions and working in policy abroad: relevant for people interested in public administration, diplomacy, policy research, and the practical side of international decision-making.
• Civil society organizations and social work abroad: useful for gaining insight into advocacy, human rights, community work, migration, development, and local responses to global issues.
• Research organizations and scientific work abroad: suitable for roles involving data, policy analysis, regional studies, conflict research, or academic support.
• Legal organizations and administrative work abroad: relevant where international law, human rights, refugee protection, public regulation, or institutional procedures are part of the work.
• Environmental organizations and sustainability abroad: connected to climate diplomacy, resource governance, sustainability policy, and international environmental cooperation.
• Communication organizations and marketing abroad: relevant when international affairs are translated into public information, campaigns, journalism, research communication, or stakeholder engagement.

What are things to consider when studying or working abroad in International relations?

• International relations can look different in each country; local histories, political systems, legal cultures, and regional priorities strongly shape how global issues are discussed.
• Language matters, not only for daily communication but also for understanding policy documents, media debates, diplomatic nuance, and local perspectives.
• Some internships or field placements involve sensitive topics such as conflict, migration, inequality, security, or human rights; preparation and ethical awareness are important.
• Institutions may use formal procedures and cautious communication, especially in governmental, legal, diplomatic, and international organization settings.
• Studying abroad in this field works best when academic learning is combined with observation of society, public debate, local organizations, and regional context.

Further depth: What is international relations as a discipline?

What are the main features of international relations?

International relations examines political, economic, legal, and social interaction beyond national borders. It studies states, but also looks at international organizations, civil society, companies, social movements, and other actors that influence global affairs.

• Interdisciplinary scope: the field draws on political science, economics, history, law, sociology, geography, and philosophy to make sense of international questions.
• Global perspective: it studies relations between actors across regions, while paying attention to local histories, institutions, identities, and unequal forms of influence.
• Attention to power: a central concern is how power is gained, used, limited, shared, resisted, and justified in the international system.

What are important sub-areas of international relations?

The discipline is broad, and most international questions cut across several subfields at once. Security, trade, law, environment, technology, and development often overlap in practice.

• International security: focuses on war, peace, terrorism, defence, arms control, conflict prevention, and the conditions under which violence escalates or is restrained.
• International political economy: studies trade, finance, development, inequality, production networks, sanctions, and the political choices behind economic relations.
• Foreign policy analysis: examines how governments define interests, make decisions, respond to crises, and manage relations with other states and institutions.
• Global governance: looks at how international institutions, treaties, norms, networks, and agreements shape cooperation on issues that cross borders.
• Development and humanitarian affairs: studies poverty, aid, migration, displacement, public health, reconstruction, and the responsibilities of international actors.

What are key concepts ofInternational relations?

• Sovereignty: the principle that states have authority over their own territory and political order, while also operating within international rules and pressures.
• Nationalism: the idea that political identity and legitimacy are closely connected to the nation, often shaping foreign policy, conflict, and state-building.
• Globalization: the increasing movement of people, goods, capital, data, risks, and ideas across borders, creating both connection and tension.
• Balance of power: the view that states respond to concentrations of power by forming alliances, building capacity, or adjusting their diplomatic strategies.
• Interdependence: the condition in which actors depend on one another economically, politically, environmentally, or technologically, even when their interests differ.
• Legitimacy: the acceptance that an institution, rule, government, or action is justified, lawful, or appropriate in the eyes of relevant communities.

Who are influential figures in international relations?

• Niccolò Machiavelli: often associated with early thinking about power, statecraft, strategic calculation, and the political realities of rule.
• Hans Morgenthau: a major realist thinker who emphasized power, national interest, prudence, and the limits of moral certainty in foreign policy.
• John Locke: influential for liberal traditions that stress rights, consent, law, and the possibility of political cooperation.
• Max Weber: important for understanding the modern state, authority, bureaucracy, and the claim to legitimate political power.

Why is international relations important?

• It helps interpret global events by connecting immediate developments to longer histories, institutional structures, interests, and ideas.
• It offers frameworks for studying cooperation, especially where no single country can solve a problem alone.
• It supports more careful thinking about conflict, peace, diplomacy, human rights, migration, trade, climate change, poverty, and public health.
• It shows how international decisions affect daily life through prices, borders, laws, security, technology, environment, and public debate.

How is international relations applied in practice?

• Diplomacy: knowledge of international relations helps diplomats prepare negotiations, understand interests, and communicate across political cultures.
• Foreign policy making: governments use analysis of international systems, alliances, risks, and domestic pressures when shaping external action.
• International organizations: the field is applied in institutions that work on peace, development, health, migration, education, climate, trade, and human rights.
• Research and policy analysis: researchers examine evidence, compare cases, evaluate policy options, and explain international developments to decision-makers or the public.
• Journalism and public communication: international relations frameworks help journalists and communicators explain events without treating them as isolated incidents.
• Civil society and advocacy: NGOs and social organizations use international knowledge to work on rights, accountability, humanitarian support, and cross-border cooperation.