Career Opportunities in the Field of International Relations

Employment opportunities in the field of International Relations are ample and exciting. Read the following article to know more about International Relations.

 

“States make wars, wars make States”

                                                         Charles Tilly, American Social Scientist

Politics, state, relations between countries play a significant role in today’s world. International relations, defence or war studies is a field of strategic studies that focuses on comprehending the role of politics in the widest possible sense - its causes, consequences and implications for the society, economy, polity and the world at large.

The World has become a Global Village

Broadly speaking, international relations are the study of relationship among countries. The functioning of sovereign states, inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and also multinational and trans-national organizations is studied at International Relations.

Apart from political science, the arena of International Relations draw extensively from fields like history, economics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and culturology.

International Relations as a Discipline

The United Nations Logo

International Relations (IR) emerged as a discipline of study in the United Kingdom only in 1919. The department of International Relations at the London School of Economics was established in the 1920s. The first university dedicated entirely to the study of IR was established in 1927 in Geneva (Switzerland). It was named Graduate Institute of International and Developmental Studies. Today several universities in India, USA, UK, rest of Europe and Australia offer degrees and doctoral studies in IR.

Theories of International Relations

Theories of IR have been largely derived from positivist and post-positivist approaches. While the former focuses on a naturalistic and scientific approach towards the study of IR, the latter rejects any kind of scientific approaches towards the same. The positivist approach relies heavily on the theories of Realism, Neo-Realism, Liberalism, and Regime Theory; on the other hand, Marxism, Social Constructivism and International Society Theories form the basis of post-positivist theories.

Occupations

A degree in IR does not really empower you into getting into a specific field. It rather strengthens and broadens your base that can be used in several occupations. Someone who has completed his or her higher studies in IR can choose from a variety of occupations that include archivist, diplomat, demographer, foreign affair specialist, journalist, foreign affairs analyst, market research analyst and language specialist. Let us delve into these a little.

Archivist: Archivists are responsible for preserving record and documents that are thought to have potential value and are of high significance.

Foreign Service Officer: They usually work for the country’s embassies and consulates around the world. Though the requirements of a Foreign Service officer differs from one country to another, but IR graduates and postgraduates are potential competitors in the segment.

Intelligence Officer: As the name suggests, they work for the intelligence department of a country. They analyze intelligence data, break down information to determine its usefulness. They are also responsible for assembling and analyzing operational intelligence, and also preparing intelligence briefings.

Language Specialist/Translators: There are about 6000 spoken languages in the world. The need for translators and language specialists are extremely high in an era where the world has been reduced to a global village. Though this demands special training in a completely different language, the domain of translators is definitely an option for them.

However, the occupation is not just limited to these areas. IR graduates can definitely look forward to much more.

Institutes

In India, students can pursue their higher studies in IR from reputed universities. Students can choose from University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, Jadavpur University in Kolkata and Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu. However, institutes are not only limited to these. Several other universities in India are also opening up departments in order to promote the study of International Relations. Out of the above-mentioned institutes, the International Relations department at JNU is the best in the country.

School of International Studies, JNU

Founded in 1955, the School of International Studies is the oldest school within JNU. Initially affiliated to the University of Delhi, the school was later merged with JNU upon its establishment in the late 1960s. Backed by years of excellence, the school has established itself as a pioneer in the field of international and defence studies in India. It is also the first institution in the country to promote ‘area studies’ in the country and to develop expertise on various countries and regions across the world.

For a long time the school focussed only on offering research studies. Students could only focus on M.Phil and PhD programs. Gradually it opened its doors for 2-year MA Programme (MA, Politics - International Studies). From the academic year 1995-96, the school began to offer an unique programme, MA in Economics with specialization in World Economy.

Currently, the department has 75 faculty members including 40 professors, 27 associate professors and 5 Emeritus professors.

Of the nineteen specializations offered by the school, students can choose to specialize in programmes such as International Legal Studies, Diplomatic Studies and Disarmament Studies. 

Students willing to pursue their higher studies form the department need to appear for an entrance test. Based upon their performance, students are selected. 

Though discourses on strategic studies and defence studies - sub-fields of IR still needs to be worked upon, scope of research work and employment opportunities are ample in the field of International Relations.

Author Bio: A skilled writer and an ardent blogger, Sampurna Majumder has been lending her knowhow to prominent websites like Shiksha.com by penning articles and blog posts on popular courses, educational trends and institutes like these.