Reflection on World Politics

This semester World Politics class has been a great look in to the world of International Relations. Before taking this class, I did not know much about the art of international relations and how so many things, such as identities and perspectives, affect the way countries interact with another.

It was also interesting to look at the different ways scholars look at countries' behaviors and classify these behaviors into theories, mainly realism, liberalism, constructivism and other versions of the three. Struggles for power, social and national identities, and international cooperation all can affect the way countries interact with one another, depending on which theory you look at.

Also, examining international issues and realizing that there are so many ways to look at them and interpret them depending on which IR theory you employ showed me that International Relations isn't an exact science, it's not black and white. It's an art, a game of chess, trying to predict the opponent's next move and strategizing to benefit yourself and (maybe) your allies.