This fourth post of twelve is focused on exploring the field. Now, it’s pretty big and diverse. I’ll just concentrate on three broad subjects that closest to me: International Studies, International Relations, and Diplomatic Studies. Each provides a different way of thinking about the international world and each has developed its own questions, literature, and approaches to research.
Understanding the differences between them helps us identify what we are studying, where our research fits, and which academic conversations we are contributing to. We’ll therefore begin by looking briefly at each field before considering how they overlap and interact.
International studies
International Studies is a broad, interdisciplinary field concerned with the world beyond national boundaries. It draws on politics, economics, history, sociology, law, development studies, culture, languages, and area studies. Rather than belonging to a single academic discipline, International Studies provides a space in which different disciplines can be used to understand international and global problems.
An ideal reading to understand the field is Pami Aalto, Vilho Harle, David Long, and Sami Moisio’s “Introduction: From International Relations to International Studies” in International Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Palgrave, 2011, 3–30).
The authors explain the development of International Studies as a broader and more interdisciplinary approach to understanding international phenomena. They examine its relationship with International Relations and show how the field draws on different disciplines, approaches, and levels of analysis. The chapter therefore introduces students not only to what International Studies studies, but also to what distinguishes it from International Relations and why an interdisciplinary approach is useful.
International studies
Broad and interdisciplinary
Focuses on international and global problems
Draws on politics, economics, history, law, sociology, culture, and area studies
Examines globalisation, development, migration, inequality, identity, and regions
Debates global vs national, universal vs cultural, Western vs non-Western
Research often crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries
International relations
International Relations (IR) is a more clearly defined academic discipline concerned with international politics. Its traditional focus is on states and their interactions, although the field now encompasses international organisations, non-state actors, and transnational processes. Its major areas include war and security, foreign policy, international political economy, international organisations, and global governance.
An ideal paper to understand the field is Steve Smith’s “The Discipline of International Relations: Still an American Social Science?” (British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2: 3, 2000, 374-402).
Smith examines how the discipline developed, its dominant approaches and assumptions, and the extent to which its intellectual agenda has been shaped by American scholarship. The article therefore introduces students to not only the subject matter but also to the debates on the discipline.
International relations
Distinct discipline focused on international politics
Traditionally centred on states and the international system
Examines war, security, foreign policy, institutions, and political economy
Major theories include realism, liberalism, and constructivism
Debates power, order, cooperation, ideas, institutions, and agency
Research investigates how international actors behave and interact
Diplomatic Studies
Diplomatic Studies focuses specifically on diplomacy. It examines the institutions, actors, processes, and practices through which international relationships are managed. Its subjects include diplomats and foreign ministries, embassies, representation, negotiation, communication, diplomatic protocol, and multilateral diplomacy. It is particularly interested in what diplomats actually do and how diplomatic institutions operate.
An ideal paper to understand the Diplomatic Studies field is “The Present and Future of Diplomacy and Diplomatic Studies” (International Studies Review, 13, 2011, 709-728).
It was written by a number of the most prominent scholars and provides an overview of the field. It examines how the study of diplomacy has developed, its relationship with International Relations, and the growing interest in diplomatic institutions and practices. It is particularly useful for understanding why diplomacy can be studied as a subject in its own right rather than simply as one small part of foreign policy or IR.
Diplomatic studies
Specialised study of diplomacy
Focuses on institutions, actors, processes, and practices
Examines diplomats, foreign ministries, embassies, and negotiations
Studies representation, communication, protocol, and multilateral diplomacy
Debates traditional vs new, state vs non-state, secrecy vs transparency
Research asks how diplomacy actually works in practice
These three fields approach the international world from different starting points. International Studies provides the broad interdisciplinary setting, International Relations focuses on international politics, and Diplomatic Studies concentrates on the institutions and practices of diplomacy. Their boundaries frequently overlap, and research can quite easily sit across two or even all three.
There are many ways to become familiar with this intellectual landscape. The papers suggested here provide a starting point, while the introductory chapters of good textbooks can provide a broader overview. The more you read, the easier it becomes to see where your own interests fit. Research rarely begins with a perfect question. More often, it begins when something you encounter in the literature strikes you as interesting, puzzling, or unexplained.
You should also be prepared to position your own research within the field. The core subjects, debates, and areas of investigation outlined above are illustrative rather than exhaustive; each field is broad and continually changing. Use them as a starting point to identify where your paper fits, which debates or subjects it engages with, and what existing research it builds upon. The aim is to show where your research belongs and what academic conversation it is joining.
The guided academic paper - the academic field
A research topic does not exist on its own. It belongs to a broader field of study and usually connects to an existing subject, debate, theory, or body of research.
You need to know the broad field in which your research sits. Is it primarily International Studies, International Relations, or Diplomatic Studies? It may overlap more than one. Sometimes, a project in International Relations may sit within foreign policy analysis, international political economy, and the study of international organisations. It could then conceivably be determined to belong to International Studies.
Your choice will determine which literature is most influential, which debates you engage with, which theories and methods you consider, and ultimately how you position your research.
The next step is to identify the academic conversation surrounding your topic. Ask what scholars have already studied, what questions they have asked, and what explanations or arguments they have offered. You do not need to know this literature completely when you begin. Your initial reading is part of the process of discovering where your research belongs.
As you read, think of your research as gradually finding its place on a map. Begin with the broad field, identify the relevant area or subject, and then locate the particular debate or problem that interests you. Record this process in your research diary. Note the fields, subjects, debates, and literature that appear relevant, and update these notes as your understanding develops.
In your research diary, you should work towards answering three questions:
What field does my research belong to?
What existing research does it connect with?
What does my research add to that conversation?
Your answers do not need to be final. Return to them and revise them as you read more. By the time you write your paper, however, your research diary should contain clear answers to all three questions. These will help you explain where your research fits within existing academic knowledge and what contribution your paper seeks to make.
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