Hi everybody I was a History/Political Science major in my undergrad. I hope to eventually pass the Foreign Service exam and become a Foreign Service Officer. I am currently in my first year as an international teacher in Latin America. I am enjoying my first year and I might do two, I’m studying Spanish extensively and intend to get to a very high level. After that I am thinking about doing a masters program either in history or international relations (possibly in Europe where I could study French or German). My GPA for undergrad isn’t great but I think with enough experience abroad I could definitely qualify for a good IR or History program. However I am worried that if I were to study IR and not history I would be pigeonholed with a very niche degree. Would an IR degree be helpful for the foreign service or other NGO work? My backup plan is to be an international teacher which is where the history masters would be useful. What would you recommend I do, is it really worth risking everything on an IR degree? I have fairly substantial college funds and savings so I’m not worried about educational debt. Please give me any advice or questions you have.

Hello.

In a few days I will start to study IR and I'm so nervous. My whole study will be centered around me, no classes, no teachers (at all) so I would like to have some advice, every time I think about the studies, I went so anxious, nervous and everything, I always think that I need to be at the top the firsts semesters.

I'm not saying that I want to step back, I really want to take this chance to study it, most of it because I have the chance to learn more languages than English, so, anyone has some tips to control my anxiety? Thanks if you read this.

I don't know if the tag is right.

Johm Mearsheimer analyses Ukraine, again, and has a lopsided and shocking biased story and conclusion. I still think they have kompromat on him.

Many of the points he makes, he makes in one direction only. Ukraine has conscription and draft dogers, Russia is an all voulenteer force, with no mention of draft dogers.

Ukraine is taking 30,000 casulaties a month, Russia husbanding its forces.

Ukraine has the line thinly populated. He doesn't mention Russia front is equally thinly populated because any consentrstion of troops is quick struck...be they Russia or Ukrainian.

There no mention of offensive realism, a bit of conspiracy theory (the western press is lying to you). He points out that Russia has a huge advantage in glide bombs, and pairs them, in his argument, with deep strike weapon systems, which glide bombs aren't. But he wants you to make that connection.

He says that 68% of Ukrainians are war weary and want peace, without framing that sentiment in the knowlege that Ukrainians know Russia is an existental threat.

I don't know how he got his reputation, but he's not living up to it now.

Based on commentary I've heard online and in person, it seems like marxists view the war in Ukraine through Mearsheimer's realists thought (NATO expansion is the primary cause of the conflict). Isn't the underlying theories between realism and marxism quite different? Why wouldn't they take the marxist theory?

And apologies, I only took one IR class in undergrad almost a decade ago, so my base knowledge of theory isn't the greatest.

Hi everybody I was a History/Political Science major in my undergrad. I hope to eventually pass the Foreign Service exam and become a Foreign Service Officer. I am currently in my first year as an international teacher in Latin America. I am enjoying my first year and I might do two, I’m studying Spanish extensively and intend to get to a very high level. After that I am thinking about doing a masters program either in history or international relations (possibly in Europe where I could study French or German). My GPA for undergrad isn’t great but I think with enough experience abroad I could definitely qualify for a good IR or History program. However I am worried that if I were to study IR and not history I would be pigeonholed with a very niche degree. Would an IR degree be helpful for the foreign service or other NGO work? My backup plan is to be an international teacher which is where the history masters would be useful. What would you recommend I do, is it really worth risking everything on an IR degree? I have fairly substantial college funds and savings so I’m not worried about educational debt. Please give me any advice or questions you have.

I’m from and my degree is in the United States at an east coast school. Interested in working abroad in Europe, but also generally how can I best leverage the degree and my time even now to set myself up for success?

It’s a two year program so I wouldn’t finish until 2029.

hi! as the title says, i’ve been interested in pivoting or applying myself to the international relations scene. however, i don’t have a formal degree in it. my degree is in communications with only a minor in IR. PR and journalism are my main tracks in comms. i’d like to gain insight on how i can strategically position myself into working in the field of IR. any tips or examples? a particular route i can take? what can i do now in college given that changing my major isn’t an option?

I have an idea for a new international settlement territory and I’d like people to poke holes in it.
Instead of countries constantly arguing over how to distribute people among existing territory, what if participating countries jointly built a new artificial/reclaimed territory specifically designed for international settlement?
It would be permanently governed by a new international organization, which I’m calling a World Summit. There wouldn’t necessarily be a conventional national government. The territory could have different legal zones based on participating countries’ legal systems, while a small set of universal laws would apply everywhere.
Infrastructure would be built before large-scale settlement: housing, desalination, power, transportation, hospitals, food systems, etc.
The goal isn’t to make a utopia or run a political experiment. It’s to create an additional place where people can actually live, while allowing countries to cooperate without one country having to absorb the entire burden.
What are the biggest problems with this idea? What am I overlooking?
AI was used to help me organize my thoughts. The entire idea came from my very human brain. I expect that some of my ideas may be flawed, but that’s the point of making it a discussion! All views and thoughts are welcomed and wanted.