International Relations Today, 2nd Edition

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The Discipline of International Relations

International Relations (IR) is an important academic discipline and constitutes a significant area of modern social science. It is primarily considered as the study of the relations among nation-states. But this view is oversimplified, because contemporary IR covers a very broad subject-matter. Yet, for a basic understanding this view is helpful. The complex nature of contemporary IR is analysed later in this chapter. But before going into the details of its nature and scope, a look into the history and development of the study of IR is necessary. This chapter begins with a short history of IR as an academic discipline, as well as a practice of maintaining relations among political systems, states ...