When I began studying International Affairs, I would describe it to my grandmother (who was confused by the name) as "Political Science for the whole world." Political Science as a discipline examines governmental structures and the actions people take both within and in relation to these governments. These actions are collectively known as politics. The science aspect of political science is based on the assumption that governmental structures and politics follow observable patterns of cause and effect and a method of inquiry to discern these patterns. As a result, political scientists use traditional approaches to scientific inquiry to attempt to explain and predict (with probabilities) political patterns of cause and effect.

International Affairs extends the scope of this topic (e.g. government and politics) to include all governments and politics globally. By doing so, International Affairs scholars assume that patterns of politics can be observed both across the globe (spatially) and throughout human history (temporally). At its most fundamental level, International Affairs focuses on three key components: the international system, states, and the patterns of interaction among states within the international system.

Though Module Two will provide more details, the international system is considered to be both the physical world (e.g. continents, oceans and seas, humans, plants, and animals, etc.) and the more social world (e.g. systems built by humans such as governments, trade networks, and community affiliations).

The second component are states. Most commonly, Americans understand states to be sub-national governments (e.g. Mississippi, California, and Kansas). In international affairs, however, this term is used to apply to countries of the world (e.g. Brazil, China, the United States, and Russia).

And finally, as mentioned above, this area of study seeks to discern behavior patterns of cause and effects within and across states within the international system. For your part, this course will challenge you to create your own hypotheses throughout the semester about what best explains past global political events and what you believe may be most likely to happen next.

The Department of International Affairs

The Department of International Affairs offers students either a major or a minor in International Affairs. The minor requires 15 hours, while the major requires 21 hours. In addition, International Affairs offers two master’s degrees (Master of International Policy and a Master of Arts in Political Science and International Affairs) and a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Affairs. We currently have 24 faculty members in the department that specialize in a wide array of topics, including international conflict, human rights, political institutions, extremism, political economy, and the environment. Here is more information about our faculty members, but I cannot state emphatically enough that this department is filled with brilliant, caring, and highly successful scholars of International Affairs.

Beyond the requirements, there are four factors to consider when choosing your courses in International Affairs: (1) the level of the course, (2) its subfield, (3) the specific topic(s) covered, and (4) skill(s) acquired.

1. Level of Course

The foundational course for International Affairs is the one you are enrolled in now: INTL 1100 “Introduction to Global Issues.” In addition to meeting UGA’s General Education Requirements, Global Issues provides students with the tools to begin understanding how governments interact with one another (international relations) and the similarities and differences in political systems (comparative politics). The next courses available to students in International Affairs are INTL 3200 Intro to International Relations and INTL 3300 Intro to Comparative Politics. Once these courses have been completed, students will then be ready for a variety of 4000-level courses that focus on a variety of topics and/or regions. The schedule of upcoming course offerings can be accessed here and a complete list of International Affairs courses can be accessed here.

2. Sub-fields

There are two sub-fields in International Affairs: International Relations and Comparative Politics. What's the difference? Imagine you were eavesdropping (no judgment!) on two people having a conversation before class started. If you were examining how they interacted with each (e.g. were they polite, did they shake hands pre-COVID-19, etc.), then you would be focusing on the interaction between actors. Next, imagine you witnessed that these students came from either very similar or quite distinct backgrounds from each other. In learning this, you may be curious about how these similarities or differences impact their view on the world.

In International Affairs, we have two broad sub-fields: International Relations (IR) and Comparative Politics (CP). International Relations is analogous to the scholar examining the interaction between actors, while comparative politics would attempt to compare and contrast different actors. Returning to the foundational assumptions posited above, International Relations scholars assume that countries have historically followed patterns of interaction (e.g. when they go to war and when they do not). By examining these patterns, IR scholars attempt to predict future interactions, mostly between or among countries (i.e. states). While International Relations scholars focus on patterns of interactions among states, Comparative Politics scholars attempt to determine patterns of causes that best explain why certain actors act the way they do in comparison to other actors.

Maybe you have anticipated that, though this is a strong division within academia, the world does not divide itself so easily into these categories. After all, one could imagine a scenario in which two students interact in a certain way because of either their similarities or their differences. That said, our discipline studies every country in the world (!) and can cover any topic of importance to the functioning of the world (e.g. war, water, food, sex, race, religion). It is difficult to focus both across all states AND understand what is occurring within each state. As a result, we have specialized people who are able to do one or the other quite well.

3. Course Topics

As our department focuses on global politics, there are dozens and dozens of topics that can fit within International Affairs. Courses within the IR sub-field tend to focus broadly on either conflict among states (e.g. INTL 4220 International Conflicts, INTL 4455 Violent Political Conflicts, INTL 4280 Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict, INTL 4285 Crisis Diplomacy, INTL 4295 War and Human Security, and INTL 4475 War and Gender) or cooperation among states (e.g. INTL 4210 International Law, INTL 4230 International Political Economy, INTL 4240 International Organizations, and INTL 4620 Human Rights).

There are also courses that may provide for a hybrid between an American government focus and International Relations by examining how the United States interacts within the world. Such courses include INTL 4250 American Foreign Policy, INTL 4430 U.S. National Security Policy, and INTL 4440 Strategic Intelligence.

Course topics within Comparative Politics tend to focus either on an issue (comparing how different actors respond to this issue) or a region of the world (examining the similarities or differences of states that share common geopolitical traits). Examples of CP courses that focus on issue-areas would include INTL 4300 Comparative Political Institutions, 4305 Comparative Public Opinion and Participation, INTL 4316 Democratic Erosion, INTL 4318 Electioneering Around the World, INTL 4320 The Politics of Development, and INTL 4610 Environmental Politics. Comparative Politics courses that focus on certain regions include INTL 4370 Middle Eastern Politics, INTL(LACS) 4380 Latin American Politics, INTL(AFST) 4355, and INTL 4360 East Asian Politics.

A note: International Affairs is not for everyone. I have neighbors who teach Mathematics. I am jealous of their syllabus preparation time before each semester, as Math just does not change as rapidly as world politics does. By the next semester, some of my examples of information need to be updated, if not replaced completely. This is also why I love our discipline. The theories and content are evolving rapidly based on each new political leader, political movements, seismic shifts in power, etc.

4. Skills Acquired

Scientifically-Based Inquiry: We may all have times where we reflect on a world in which we want to live. That said, IA works to examine, explain, and predict outcomes in the world in which we live. This does not mean we do not have hope that things could change. But examining the world we want to see would be like looking at a horse and describing it as a unicorn. We would be objectively wrong.

Instead, we use processes for an investigation similar to those you have learned in any research courses you have taken: (1) observe, (2) ask questions, (3) determine previous answers to this question, (4) posit any possible answers to be tested, (5) test these answers, (5) determine if these answers may be supported or must be rejected, and (6) repeat this process again and again and again. To support and develop research skills, our department offers INTL 4000 Research Design and Quantitative Analysis in International Affairs.

Analysis of Both Historical & Current Events: That said, we are not simply an ahistorical discipline. We do not just focus on the present without any concern for the historical context. The biggest criticism of our discipline has been that we gather lots of data without understanding it. This is why professors within our department and beyond will examine past histories in classes to assess patterns of behavior being repeated or maybe even changed over time.

Written & Oral Argumentation: International Affairs is a fast-paced, analytical discipline with ample opportunities for students to begin learning about and analyzing political patterns of behavior. Most of the courses in International Affairs allow for written argumentation (e.g. create policy recommendations). Some courses where oral argumentation will be a main focus include two courses that I teach: INTL 4210 Introduction to International Law and INTL 4710 United Nations Practicum.