Specializiations/fields within IR

[devastator]

Basically International Affairs is a pretty broad scope. The fields seem to blur. For example, whats' the difference between:

- Economics and Development?

- Diplomacy/Strategic studies and Security/Military stuff?

- Communication and Journalism/media?

The ones that seem clear cut are something like Health, or the Environment.

Also seems the fields within IR don't all prepare one for the same thing, which I guess is natural.

What are your thoughts on this?

[pwnt]

bump! i was wondering this as well

[balderdash]

Basically International Affairs is a pretty broad scope. The fields seem to blur. For example, whats' the difference between:

- Economics and Development?

- Diplomacy/Strategic studies and Security/Military stuff?

- Communication and Journalism/media?

The ones that seem clear cut are something like Health, or the Environment.

Also seems the fields within IR don't all prepare one for the same thing, which I guess is natural.

What are your thoughts on this?

Well, they're pretty different areas. Economics in IR could be reworking the Bretton Woods system, trying to bring down tariffs, studying international monetary flows, transnational labor markets, et cetera. Development such as the work I'm doing can be about civil wars, regional politics, and genocides as hindering development. That's a pretty substantial difference. Other development people focus on human rights, agriculture, gender issues, health crises, refugees, legal systems, democratization... I mean, it's really a ton of issues outside development economics.

Diplomacy and strategic studies is a complement to security studies, and although I'm no expert in this field, I would hazard a guess that the former is about incentives and bartering, two-level games and trade-offs. It probably focuses on international organizations and laws. The latter is, I would imagine, US- or Eurocentric (depending on the school) and primarily concerned with unilateral goals. The main focus is probably security and protecting interests abroad as opposed to multilateral and global objectives that diplomacy is focused on.

Finally, communication and journalism are a bit more nuanced, but the idea is the same as with the other two distinctions above.

[narius]

I think balderdash gives a good explanation, but I'll throw my 2 cents in too, for whatever its worth.

- Economics and Development?

Economics deals with trade, modeling, and circumstance. Generally, international economics is not necessarily application-based, but attempts to explore economic phenomena and propose explanations for how and why things occur. Development is obviously more application-oriented. There is development economics, which uses the tools of modeling and econometrics to assist in formulating policy, and there is economic development, which is the practice of applying policies, financial instruments, and management tools to stimulating development. Of these, the latter is the most 'practical' (I'm not using this as a value judgment), and the first is the most theoretical.

One needn't study international economics with the intention to assist in development, and being involved with economic development doesn't always imply that you have any clue about mathematical macroeconomics.

- Diplomacy/Strategic studies and Security/Military stuff?

These are sometimes conflated with one another because of how close they are (other cousins are 'peace' and 'conflict' studies or conflict resolution). Diplomacy tends to imply the strategies and tendencies of engagement and discourse. The art of diplomacy, though it may include the threat or use of war, is by no means a qualification of military knowledge. Studying diplomacy is about interstate interaction, cooperation, and (to a lesser degree) competition. Some programs include modules on leadership and management as well to equip diplomats and would-be diplomats with the skills to take leadership roles in diplomatic positions.

Strategic studies is closer to diplomacy, but tends to focus on the competition between states rather than their interaction. However, again, this doesn't mean that warfare or military affairs is the entire curriculum. Strategic studies is about great power competition (whether the program focuses on one country or global trends depends on the program), which can involve military power, energy power (a biggie), water rights, exclusive economic zones, economic power, etc.

Security studies is a lot like strategic studies except that the focus is more explicitly on balance of power issues and the use (and non-use) of military forces. America's recent wars have introduced a great deal of coursework in recent years on homeland security, counter terrorism, and nation building, but most programs will stay true to traditional power alignments and the various uses of military force (including non-kinetic operations).

- Communication and Journalism/media?

While they can mean the same thing, international communications usually is geared more toward public relations and public affairs. That is, everything from international advertising to various kinds of lobbying.

Journalism/media is more on actual reporting and media coverage.

---

I hope this helps somewhat. I'd caution against taking this at face value since a lot of programs don't always delineate their programs so sharply, and you will find pieces of other disciplines in all of these. Still, I think this should help you get a clearer picture on what you're getting into.

[foodlover28]

One more specialization/concentration distinction request:

ID vs Social Policy.

I'm interested in China's social policies, and social consequences of its development policies. I'm fine with working on US domestic social policies as well, but ultimately I'd like to specialize/research on China.

My understanding is that ID deals with poverty alleviation, sustainable development, urban vs. rural growth, etc; while social policy is more domestic oriented.

Given that, I'm not sure if I should go with ID from the start or Social Policy and then do a comparative study or apply it to my region of interest...seems to me that the first option is more viable/appropriate for me, but I'd like to hear your opinions as well.

[balderdash]

One more specialization/concentration distinction request:

ID vs Social Policy.

I'm interested in China's social policies, and social consequences of its development policies. I'm fine with working on US domestic social policies as well, but ultimately I'd like to specialize/research on China.

My understanding is that ID deals with poverty alleviation, sustainable development, urban vs. rural growth, etc; while social policy is more domestic oriented.

Given that, I'm not sure if I should go with ID from the start or Social Policy and then do a comparative study or apply it to my region of interest...seems to me that the first option is more viable/appropriate for me, but I'd like to hear your opinions as well.

Well, I'm sure narius will come back and give a much better explanation than I can (like with last time), but I'll start us off:

First, there's no real need to declare one area and stick to it without ever touching related work... I mean, I know all the PhD apps require me to submit a concentration, but it's not as though it's static, unbending, and completely divorced from other subjects. Most, in fact, require expertise in at least 2 subfields to graduate with the degree. So I wouldn't build up these distinctions so quickly.

Also, development is really, really broad. The subject as you described it is probably how European programs are set up and how the policy world works. When I was at DFID, it was a lot of focus on poverty reduction/rural growth. But US academic programs in development really can be much broader. For instance, I'm applying to Yale, whose faculty has a really strong base in conflict and development - Blattman's work is on child soldiering in the LRA, Kalyvas studies civilian violence, and Wood looks at sexual violence as a weapon of war. So it is definitely development, but nothing to do with what you mentioned. So would that type of program fit your interest? Perhaps. If there is someone on the faculty who teaches Chinese development, then almost definitely (and there are a Lot of people who study Chinese dev nowadays). It's all about finding the faculty that approximates your interests, and then finding your own way.