International relations (
IR) or
international affairs, depending on academic institution, is either a field of
political science or an
interdisciplinary academic field similar to
global studies, in which students take a variety of internationally focused courses in
social science and
humanities disciplines. In both cases, the field studies relationships among countries, the roles of
sovereign states,
inter-governmental organizations (IGOs),
international non-governmental organizations (INs),
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and
multinational corporations (MNCs). International relations is an
academic and a
public policy field, and so can be
positive and
normative, because it analyzes and formulates the
foreign policy of a given State.