International relations, depending on academic institution, is either a field of political science, an interdisciplinary academic field similar to global studies, or an entirely independent academic discipline in which students take a variety of internationally focused courses in social science and humanities disciplines. In both such cases, the field studies relationships between political entities such as states, sovereign states, empires, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs), and the wider world-systems produced by this interaction. International relations is an academic and a public policy field, and so can be positive and normative, because it analyses and formulates the foreign policy of a given State.

International relations draws from the fields of: technology and engineering, economics, communication studies, history, international law, demography, philosophy, geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, criminology, psychology, gender studies, cultural studies, and diplomacy.

Best schools for International Relations

-          China Foreign Affairs University (formerly Foreign Affairs College)

-          City University of Hong Kong

-          Fudan University

-          Hopkins-Nanjing [Institute of International Studies, Jilin University]

-          Peking University

-          Renmin University

-          Shanghai International Studies University

-          Tsinghua University - Department of International Relations

-          University of International Relations