Reasons Why You Should Study About International Relations

There are various perspectives and each of them has its own point.

Zelene Chambers
ILLUMINATION
6 min readJun 8, 2022

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Photo by Red John on Unsplash

In my opinion, both sides (Ours and Others Nation) can be justified because none of the two would proclaim its essentiality one-sided. Yet, I think that some of the sides might be more supported than others by solid arguments and as a result, are more likely to be considered by people in general. Nevertheless, it is hard to say if actual international relations would witness any change if a broader number of individuals was induced to pursue such knowledge. Besides, it is also very important for everyone to see that those relations would not be able to exist at all without the contribution made by all parties involved.

For example, the ones living on the same territory have a lot in common and often give an impression of unifying each other rather than being separated. On the other hand, different nations spend too much energy on proving their superiority over each other which often leads to mutual annihilation rather than any particular progress in terms of real progress in terms of understanding and cooperation.

You enjoy debating and engaging in challenging issues

One of the biggest revelations to me as I was growing up was how little of the world I had experienced.

No, I don’t mean the small town I grew up in or my limited exposure to other countries and cultures.

I mean that I had no idea what was going on in my own country, let alone the rest of the world. When I first started studying about international relations in college, it fascinated me: here were all these major political issues that people were facing and there wasn’t even a clear definition for what an “issue” was!

There was so much information and so many issues at play that it was impossible to grasp everything at once. The more I read and researched on my own, the more issues kept popping up. It felt like an endless rabbit hole of challenging topics and questions — and I loved it!

What got me at first was not just the subject itself but also how broad it is: everything from war to law to economics to foreign policy to gender politics are essential components of international relations! If you’re someone who gets excited about exploring new ideas and learning new information, then this is the career for you.

It’s a great starting point for your career

Almost every graduate school, government agency, and corporation is looking for an employee who has a clear understanding of international relations. With so many new opportunities arising in the world, it’s vital to understand how businesses operate in other countries. Understanding various cultures opens up numerous avenues of employment as well as making you an invaluable asset to any organization you choose to work with.

It will open your eyes to a whole new way of thinking

Learning about international relations helps you see the world as more than just one country. Understanding how different nations interact with each other helps you see how the world works on a global scale. You’ll start to see the connections between things that might not have been obvious before, like how one country’s actions can have global repercussions.

It will help you be more informed about current events

When you learn about international relations, you begin to realize that there are multiple sides to every story. Most news outlets will only show you one perspective, but when you take a step back and look at the big picture, it becomes much easier to understand why people believe and act the way they do around the world.

The unique skillset you develop will be in high demand

The US is not alone in being a two-party system, and Americans would do well to know more about the history of how that came to be. The political tradition we live by was born in a revolutionary struggle against English rule, and the ideas that powered that revolution were shaped by the wars with Britain.”

History aside, the unique skillset you develop while studying International Relations will be in high demand — you’ll be able to work on political issues around the world, which could lead to your own career as a diplomat or an ambassador. Since you’ll be working on these issues from across the globe, it’s important that you have a better understanding of where people are coming from.

Your knowledge of international relations can help you understand what motivates others to think or act a certain way, and can let you engage in respectful dialogue about important issues like war or peace.

You want to gain real-world experience

You’ll be able to find a job in a field that’s growing and that has career flexibility. You’ll learn how to think independently, how to analyze and how to solve problems. You’ll also get a broad understanding of different cultures, which will help you in both your personal and professional life.

I want you to choose IR as an elective because it teaches you so much more than just the study of international affairs. It helps you develop your communication skills — after all, you need those skills to effectively study international relations in the first place! IR courses help you think critically and analytically, which are skills that are useful no matter what career path you ultimately choose. And perhaps most importantly, they teach you how to think independently, since every IR course involves plenty of critical thinking outside the classroom.

Nowadays, it’s hard to find a field that isn’t growing. But the need for International Relations experts is especially high right now because we’re dealing with so many interrelated global issues: terrorism, climate change and energy security, urbanization and migration, food supply issues…the list goes on.

Because so many nations are having such significant interactions with each other, there’s a huge need for people who understand International Relations.

It’s about more than politics

It’s not just in your own little bubble of your community or family, but globally. And you know that there are many complex issues that need to be addressed, and you think you’re someone who can do it.

You want to change the world. You want to be the one who finds solutions to problems that no one else has found solutions to before. You want to be the one who stands up for what’s right, with all of your heart and soul, and makes a difference in how people live their lives.

You have an interest in International Relations because you have a desire to learn about different cultures, viewpoints and issues around the world, and how those things relate to each other and affect each other. You believe that people should live their lives freely without someone telling them what they can and cannot do with their country.

You want to be knowledgeable about global issues, so that you can be prepared when something occurs that affects you or someone close to you. You also want to use this knowledge in order to help others better understand why certain things happen on a global scale as well as domestic issues. When people know more about why certain things happen, they are less likely to take part in violence.

Through the study of IR, You not only develop the analytical tools needed to understand political events globally, You can learn how to apply these tools in tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems. With such an engaging and challenging field, there are many reasons why you should study about international relations.

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