Is IR a dead major?

[Anonymous]

I have a student thinking about international relations as a major

[Anonymous]

Is this the same person wondering if diversity and inclusion is over? 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this the same person wondering if diversity and inclusion is over? 🙄

Uh- no.
But the State Department, USAID and its grantees are in serious flux and decline in #s, so the question of whether or not there will be relevant jobs at less than an infintesimal % of what was seems relevant

[Anonymous]

Pick an adjacent field like economics or international economics. They can parlay it at some places into international work but won’t be as pigeonholed.

[Anonymous]

Agree on economics plus too few diplomats and nat sec types understand political economy and economic warfare.

[Anonymous]

Not a good time to start studying it.

[Anonymous]

Make sure they take out a massive student loan while they're at it. May as well be a walking meme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a good time to start studying it.

This is probably a good time, actually. You get to study in real time the importance of international relations and then, when the administrations blessedly change in a few years, be well-positioned for the inevitable "oh shit, we should probably restock our diplomatic corps" moment.

[Anonymous]

Does your student agree with current-era Marco Rubio sending legal immigrants to El Salvador? Or Steve Witkoff selling out Ukraine to Russia? The end of soft power and U.S. participation in multinational organizations and treaties? Or does your student have citizenship in another country?

[Anonymous]

This is such a ridiculous question. There are fewer USG and USG-adjacent jobs but the world is a very big and busy place and an IR major will remain valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a ridiculous question. There are fewer USG and USG-adjacent jobs but the world is a very big and busy place and an IR major will remain valuable.

I agree with this comment but I would have them combine it with economics, accounting, Spanish, homeland security or something to be more marketable and well rounded.

[Anonymous]

Only if they are going to Harvard or Yale, there are so few government positions that only those graduates will likely get them. I suppose corporations might start hiring IR since no one really knows what to expect when doing international deals anymore.

[Anonymous]

Imagine how much rebuilding the State Department will have to do in the year your kid is graduating!

I agree with econ, though. All of my kids have done a double major. Do IR-Econ. (or IR-Business if feasible but econ is the easier double major since there will be overlapping classes). In other words, something with clear market value alongside IR. Then senior year, they can decide what emphasis will be on the resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a ridiculous question. There are fewer USG and USG-adjacent jobs but the world is a very big and busy place and an IR major will remain valuable.

I agree with this comment but I would have them combine it with economics, accounting, Spanish, homeland security or something to be more marketable and well rounded.

Combine it with mandarin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a good time to start studying it.

This is probably a good time, actually. You get to study in real time the importance of international relations and then, when the administrations blessedly change in a few years, be well-positioned for the inevitable "oh shit, we should probably restock our diplomatic corps" moment.

+1. I’ve said something similar when the conversation comes up. We will be rebuilding in a few years.