--- title: International Relations description: This subject analyzes the interactions between sovereign states, international organizations, and non-state actors. Learners will understand the theories of diplomacy, conflict, trade, and foreign policy that shape global politics and international cooperation. category: social-sciences subcategory: political-science difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/international-relations --- # International Relations This subject analyzes the interactions between sovereign states, international organizations, and non-state actors. Learners will understand the theories of diplomacy, conflict, trade, and foreign policy that shape global politics and international cooperation. ## Available Resources 6 Books • 5 Courses • 7 Websites ## Websites ### 1. The Belfer Center The Harvard Kennedy School research center covering nuclear security, geopolitics, energy, and technology policy. Its site publishes analyst commentary, policy briefs, and reports you can use to track expert argument on current international security questions. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.belfercenter.org/ **Tags:** international-security, foreign-policy, think-tank, harvard, policy-research ### 2. e-ir.info E-International Relations (e-ir.info) is a free, open-access platform with approachable articles, blog posts, and an extensive encyclopedia on international relations theory and practice. It features explanations of major IR theories, debates, and practical insights for students and scholars. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.e-ir.org/ **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ### 3. isa.org ISA.org is the official site of the International Society of Automation. It offers standards, training, certifications, publications, events, and other technical resources to learn and advance in industrial automation. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://isa.org **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, industrial-engineering ### 4. cfr.org cfr.org is the online home of the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading nonprofit think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy and global affairs. It provides expert analysis, policy briefs, reports, backgrounders, data, and multimedia on geopolitics, along with events and interactive features. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://cfr.org **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, geography ### 5. un.org Official site of the United Nations offering an authoritative overview of its structure, agencies, programs, treaties, and peacekeeping missions. It also provides news, data, reports, and resources on global governance topics and the Sustainable Development Goals. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://un.org **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ### 6. duckofminerva.com Duck of Minerva is an academic blog and resource hub for international relations theory, featuring accessible explanations, scholarly commentary, and teaching resources on IR theories and related debates. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://duckofminerva.com **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ### 7. foreignaffairs.com Foreign Affairs is the flagship magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations, offering in-depth analysis, essays, and policy perspectives on international relations and global affairs. The site features expert articles, op-eds, interviews, and briefs on geopolitics, diplomacy, security, economics, and global governance. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://foreignaffairs.com **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ## Courses ### 1. Global Diplomacy – Diplomacy in the Modern World The Global Diplomacy course is a unique offering to the MOOC environment. Bringing together cutting edge research in the broad fields of Diplomatic and International Studies, award winning distance learning delivery and the instructors previous experience of delivering a successful MOOC. Please see the volume Global Diplomacy: Theories, Types and Models authored with Dr Alison Holmes, (Westview, 2016), and the Understanding Research Methods MOOC from Coursera. The Global Diplomacy MOOC has a direct heritage in the University of London International Academy/SOAS Global Diplomacy MA Programme launched in April 2013 which have attracted hundreds of students from around the world. The Global Diplomacy MA Programme is provided by the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy which has been teaching postgraduate courses in Diplomacy for over twenty five years. After completing the 'Global Diplomacy' MOOC, learners will have: 1. The ability to demonstrate a critical understanding of the nature and development of global diplomacy, drawing on a variety of relevant contributing disciplines in the broad field of International Studies. 2. An understanding of changes in diplomatic practices and procedures and the relationship of those changes to contemporary politics. 3. A sound grounding in both theoretical and empirical approaches to debates in diplomacy so that students have been exposed to the and skills needed to analyse global diplomacy. 4. knowledge of issues in global diplomacy in historical and contemporary contexts. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/global-diplomacy **Tags:** diplomacy, international-relations, global-governance, foreign-policy ### 2. Reducing the Danger of Nuclear Weapons and Proliferation (MIT RES.8-004) **Author:** Aron M. Bernstein, Vipin Narang A two-lecture series on the history and current state of nuclear weapons and non-proliferation policy, covering a likely regional nuclear flash point, the dangers of present weapons policies, and prospects for further reductions. Includes 2 lecture videos (3 hours) and slides. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-8-004-reducing-the-danger-of-nuclear-weapons-and-proliferation-january-iap-2015/ **Tags:** nuclear-weapons, nonproliferation, arms-control, nuclear-policy ### 3. Causes and Prevention of War (MIT 17.42) **Author:** Stephen Van Evera Examines why wars start and how to prevent them: misperception, military strategy, religion and U.S. foreign policy, with cases from the Peloponnesian War to both World Wars and the Middle East. Provides lecture notes, exams and sample written assignments for analysing the causes of war. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/17-42-causes-and-prevention-of-war-spring-2018/ **Tags:** international-relations, war-studies, conflict-prevention, security-studies, foreign-policy ### 4. The North Awakens **Author:** Mark C. Serreze University of Colorado Boulder course on the Arctic's rising economic and strategic importance: governance, Indigenous northern communities, shipping routes, oil, gas, and mining, so you can read Arctic policy debates critically. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-north-awakens **Tags:** arctic-geopolitics, arctic-governance, northern-sea-route, arctic-resources, indigenous-peoples ### 5. Global Politics Join us on a cosmopolitan adventure through politics, society, conflict and nature, and ask yourself, as we look to the future of humanity, whether there is one global order that is sufficiently complex to be both lasting and sustainable. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Duration:** 4 weeks of study, 3-4 hours/week | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/politics/universita-degli-studi-di-napoli-federico-ii-global-politics **Tags:** courses, humanities-social-sciences, political-science ## Podcasts ### 1. The Globalist **Author:** Monocle Monocle's weekday morning news programme, broadcast from London and Zürich, running through the day's main international affairs and business stories with correspondents and editors, plus a review of European front pages. Useful for tracking how global stories are framed differently across countries. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-US | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-globalist **Tags:** current-affairs, international-news, global-business, daily-podcast, european-media ### 2. War on the Rocks **Author:** Ryan Evans Discussions over drinks with security, defense, and foreign policy insiders and experts. The original War on the Rocks podcast series. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://warontherocks.com **Tags:** national-security, defense-policy, military-strategy, foreign-policy, podcast ### 3. Global Dispatches **Author:** Mark Leon Goldberg Twice-weekly interview podcast, running since 2013, hosted by journalist Mark Leon Goldberg. Policymakers, researchers and reporters explain conflicts, diplomacy, the United Nations, humanitarian crises and global development, giving listeners the background needed to interpret current international news. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.globaldispatches.org/ **Tags:** international-relations, foreign-policy, global-development, united-nations, humanitarian-crises ## Books ### 1. Essentials of International Relations **Author:** Karen A. Mingst, Ivan M. Arreguín-Toft Undergraduate survey textbook covering the historical development of the state system, the main IR theories, and levels of analysis, then applying them to war, international organizations, trade, and human rights. Establishes the vocabulary used across the field. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393937100?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ### 2. The Globalization of World Politics **Author:** John Baylis, Steve Smith, Patricia Owens Oxford's standard introductory textbook on international relations, with chapters by specialists on realism, liberalism, constructivism, security, international law, and global economy. It gives you the theoretical vocabulary and historical background needed to follow academic debates in the field. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0198899807?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** international-relations, ir-theory, globalization, world-politics, international-security ### 3. Against Empire **Author:** Michael Parenti Michael Parenti's 1995 polemic on US foreign policy, arguing that interventions abroad serve corporate and financial interests. It equips readers with a structural critique of empire and case examples from Latin America and beyond. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0872862984?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** imperialism, us-foreign-policy, political-economy, capitalism, intervention ### 4. Humanitarian Intervention **Author:** J. L. Holzgrefe, Robert O. Keohane Cambridge essays by legal scholars, philosophers, and political scientists debating when armed intervention to stop atrocities is justified. Readers get the competing moral arguments, the state of international law after Kosovo, and how sovereignty norms have shifted. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/052152928X?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** humanitarian-intervention, sovereignty, international-law, just-war, human-rights ### 5. World Politics **Author:** Jeffry A. Frieden, David A. Lake, Kenneth A. Schultz Textbook built on a single analytical framework of interests, interactions, and institutions, applied to war, alliances, trade, monetary policy, development, human rights, and the environment. Trains you to explain outcomes strategically rather than memorizing competing schools. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393927091?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, international-relations ### 6. Theories of International Relations **Author:** Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jack Donnelly, Terry Nardin, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit, Jacqui True Edited survey in which specialists each present one theoretical tradition: realism, liberalism, the English School, Marxism, constructivism, critical theory, postmodernism, feminism, green theory. Lets you compare the assumptions and criticisms of each school side by side. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0230219233?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, political-science --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/international-relations