The study of international politics explores how governments and other actors interact with each other in the global arena. The field encompasses a broad range of players, from multinational corporations to regional organizations like the European Union or the World Bank. Studying international politics also teaches students to recognize how domestic factors can impact international decision-making, such as the way that the structure of society or a country’s history influence an individual’s views on international issues and their solutions.
The first research institutions devoted to international relations were founded in the United States in 1910 and 1919. The first university departments were established in 1919 at University College Wales at Aberystwyth and Columbia University. The early literature emphasized the importance of a scientific approach to international politics. The discipline was dominated by realists and idealists, but a few scholars recognized that the purpose of a field was to identify and reduce threats to liberty and security and that a broad theoretical framework was necessary before a science could emerge.
Among the most important assumptions of liberal IR theory is that the actions of states in the international arena are not simply a reflection of self-interest, but often reflect cooperation and a motivation for peace. The theory further emphasizes that non-state actors, such as individuals and private parties, and international organizations play an important mediating role in the international arena and are far more fundamental to global politics than is generally recognized by realists.
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