What IR means to us…

International Relations is valuable because it is a politically related topic and yet it usually relates to much more global, substantial issues than the paper-pushing tendencies in many capital cities. IR is special among poli-sci classes because it focuses on theoretical and ethical approaches to international issues. IR contains valuable philosophical considerations, such as how different actors-the world, state and individual-would approach different issues. It provides a theoretical foundation to help us understand and appreciate why agents act the way they do. International Relations, even in its title, seems to imply worldwide cooperation for common goals. It appeals to values that we believe are universal, and in that way it can seem a noble and ethical subject. Rather than become mired down in the petty politics of water runoff in our hometown, international relations helps us to concern ourselves with getting clean drinking water to the more than 2 billion people who go every day without it. International Relations reminds us that we are part of a larger humanity, and that we are supposed to relate to them. It pulls out of our everyday rut, mired in our own-often unimportant-political debates and asks us to put our policy making to better use: to address genocide, HIV/AIDs, poverty, and, ultimately, better connect us with the rest of world.