Graduate Program — International Relations

The International Relations field of UVa’s Politics department is concerned with crucial issues in international relations. We care about big ideas that address big questions - and the fine-grained evidence to back them up. Our scholars seek to answer such puzzles as why war occurs - and why it does not, what causes national economic development and underdevelopment, why democracies are more peaceful, why states sometimes radically change their foreign policies, what role human rights has in international affairs, why international cooperation occurs, what drives the behavior of international institutions, what drives the development of international finance, and why states attempt to spread their ideologies abroad.

One of our strengths is deep expertise at the intersection of national and international politics. We have a cohort of scholars with developed knowledge of the culture, language, and politics of a number of regions around the world including Europe, the Middle East, Russia, China, Japan, Latin America, and South Asia. They work on the foreign policies of the relevant countries as well as study how those policies shape world politics and reflect broader political phenomena.

Our coverage of American foreign policy is especially strong with several scholars doing research in that area as well as having experience in the U.S. government at home and abroad in key policy positions. Bolstered by our geographic location, these ties give us relatively strong access in Washington circles.

We are a diverse group both theoretically and methodologically. Our numbers include those who emphasize power, institutions, ideas, economics, and synthetic approaches in their theories and research. We believe that conceptual diversity and the intellectual exchange that it produces make us a more interesting and better place to study the world. In terms of method we tend to favor historical and empirical approaches, but the priority is always to adopt whatever means best answer the particular question - be it normative, formal analytical, large n-quantitative, ethnographic, or comparative case methods.

We hope to develop on our strengths - and expand our substantive and methodological diversity - in new hires in coming years. What will remain a bedrock for us is the drive to answer important questions with ambitious answers backed by solid research.