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Stefanie Stiles (IR 2004)

 

"Ohh, you're an...International Relations student? That's nice."

 

No one quite knows what to make of IR (International Relations) students. The success of the recent ATLIS (Atlantic International Studies) conference held here last weekend seems to indicate that many students at Mount Allison, and throughout the Atlantic provinces, are interested in international affairs. But overall, few people seem to have more than the vaguest idea of what it is we're studying. I've heard some people lump us together with Commerce students, and others assume we're all very socially conscious types. Even my family and close friends aren't sure; my grandmother has been asking me about once a month for the past four years what my major is.

 

When I'm called on to describe what I'm studying, I usually follow "IR", which is virtually an unknown discipline outside of academic circles, with the explanation: "It's mostly history and politics." That's all a casual inquirer really wants to know. But of course, IR is actually much more complex than that. According to the course description in the Academic Calendar, the IR program"...provides students with a multidisciplinary foundation for understanding the complexities of today's international affairs." It focuses on the many different elements of power, beyond economics and military, such as gender, class, and culture that govern relations between state and non- state actors.

 

Basically, IR is the bastard son of globalization and international political study... Like Political Science and its obsession with power, IR students also tend towards academic megalomania-- it reflects the very nature of the study.

 

I, however, am not a lover of high politics. I believe in "soft power". I dislike convoluted answers, and Religious Studies, English, and Sociology, all contain elements that I find more attractive than most of what IR has to offer. So, why, oh why, did I end up in a program crammed full of people with NATO screensavers?

 

The answer is simple-- I took IR for my own good. To me, IR is the cod liver oil of education. Swallowing gooey, viscous concepts like state sovereignty, national security, multiculturalism, and multilateralism may be a difficult task, but it's absolutely necessary. Without fully understanding the theoretical foundations, traditions, and conflicting arguments of IR, one can never form an educated opinion on the world and the complexities of global society.

 

To put it another way, the U.N. charter is not fascinating; the march of liberalism in human history is very much so. Regime theory is not fascinating; but the development of international norms that promise to end the practice of landmine-use is monumental. Radical feminist critiques of the state structure are of no great interest to me directly, here in Canada; but their insights are useful in understanding some aspects of the skewed gender relations that have undoubtedly shaped our world. Because of IR, I will never look at the world in quite the same way, and for that, I am grateful.



 

IR is not the exclusive preserve of wannabe diplomats, or at the other extreme, radical social activists. It's also not for those with a merely passing interest in international affairs. IR exists for those who want an in-depth exploration of global politics, starting from the inside out, by providing a rough, but workable methodology.

 

As frustrating as it can sometimes be, I am very glad I chose IR as my major. Every once in a while I may grumble at the tedious routine of everyday IR studies, but I can't imagine ever dropping it for something else. It is the lens through which I see the world.

 


Date: 2016-01-14; view: 568


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