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International relations is one of the most exciting majors for undergraduate as well as graduate and doctoral students. It has a lot to offer in terms of both hard and soft skills. Also, one can have a wide choice of rewarding careers upon graduation.
What’s particularly good about this major is that it helps students to get in-depth knowledge on a variety of subjects. The following are at the core of this field:
- Politics;
- Economics;
- Geography;
- History;
- Foreign languages, and more.
Of course, studying all of this is not easy. And you’ll need to consult a lot of resources to find the information to present in the upcoming assignments. Speaking about those – as you probably already know, writing is a huge part of the study process in case of this major. So, you really have to ace it – and the sooner, the better.
In this article, you’ll find some useful resources that you will be able to use as a reference when writing your academic papers. However, it’s not always easy to put together a decent essay, even with all the necessary information at hand.
If you ever face problems with anything related to academic writing, don’t hesitate to consult professional writers at the writepaper.com platform. And if you browse the resources below, you’ll know where to find data and relevant info. Let’s dive in!
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Google News
Everybody knows how to use Google Search, but do you often turn to Google News? If not, you should definitely try it. It offers a wide range of current publications on the subject of your search. Even more than that – it allows you to create alerts and follow the topic as it unfolds.
This method is good for current news subjects, but if you don’t stay on the first page of results, you may also find items that are a week or two old. However, you should always pay attention to the source of the concrete news item.
Wikipedia
Disclaimer: We all know that this is not a credible source. Yet, this open encyclopedia can also be quite useful, though only for preliminary research.
While it can’t give you data that you can cite or totally rely upon when doing your writing assignment, it’s perfect as the first stop for almost any topic. An article or a bunch of them will give you an overview of the subject and a direction for further, more detailed, research.
JSTOR
Now, here’s something more sophisticated. JSTOR is one of the biggest and most popular free databases where you can find all sorts of resources you may need for your papers. This digital library offers a wide choice of scholarly and academic articles as well as ebooks on various subjects.
An added plus is that most of the items in this database are provided in their entirety. Most articles are peer-reviewed, which makes them perfect for citing in any academic paper.
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The CIA World Factbook
This resource, also known as simply The World Factbook, was originally published in 1962. National Basic Intelligence Factbook, as it was then called, was at first produced semiannually, but became an annual product in 1980.
It contains a vast amount of data on various aspects of the world’s 267 different actors. It includes facts on history, government, economy, geography, and a lot more. The Book is produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency and can be accessed online via the organization’s official website.
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs was founded in 1922 as a forum for discussions on American global affairs and foreign policy. Now it’s a huge media organization with products available on various platforms – print, web, mobile.
Foreign Affairs is run by The Council on Foreign Relations, a non-profit, nonpartisan, independent American organization. By the way, the Council’s own official website can be a useful source of information.
It may not seem obvious from the start, but if you think about it, Twitter is still the most popular platform for politics and influencers around the world. And you should definitely be aware of the tweets from the world leaders.
So, if you want to always be updated, follow a handful of VIPs on this platform and check your newsfeed daily. This way, you’ll be less likely to miss something important.
E-International Relations
This website was created in 2007 for students majoring in International Relations. It boasts of having over 3 million readers per year and calls itself “the leading open-access website for students and scholars of international politics”.
The site positions itself as a non-profit, independent organization not aligned with any specific causes or movements and not backed by corporate or governmental owners. Its staff is comprised of volunteer writers from all over the world – students, academics, and practitioners.
Final Words
Majoring in international relations may not be easy, but you’ll hardly ever get bored studying this field. There’s so much happening every day in every corner of the world! The hardest part is to keep up with everything.
However, there’s more to it than just keeping yourself updated on the agenda. This major requires in-depth knowledge of a variety of subjects, so don’t forget to also dig deeper and go beyond social media and popular news sites.
