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Topic · Political Science and International Relations

International Relations and Foreign Policy

International Relations and Foreign Policy is a research topic within Political Science and International Relations. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of topics related to international relations, including power dynamics, the role of international institutions and global governance, the influence of norms and soft power, the security dilemma, international law and diplomacy, globalization, and hegemonic structures. The papers explore various theoretical perspectives and empirical case studies to understand the complexities of interactions between states and non-state actors in the global arena.

  • Power
  • International Institutions
  • Global Governance
  • Norms
  • Soft Power
  • Security Dilemma
  • International Law
  • Diplomacy
  • Globalization
  • Hegemony
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+22%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
30% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
International Relations and Foreign Policy

Which countries lead International Relations and Foreign Policy research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (954 and 406 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 954 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 406 works
  3. 3 China 390 works
  4. 4 Türkiye 270 works
  5. 5 Germany 261 works
  6. 6 Russia 255 works
  7. 7 India 195 works
  8. 8 Australia 159 works
  9. 9 Pakistan 154 works
  10. 10 Canada 117 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 30.2%United Kingdom: 12.9%China: 12.3%Türkiye: 8.5%6 others listed: 36.1%30%largest
United States954 · 30.2%United Kingdom406 · 12.9%China390 · 12.3%Türkiye270 · 8.5%6 others listed1,140 · 36.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead International Relations and Foreign Policy research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most International Relations and Foreign Policy research, followed by Moscow State Institute of International Relations and King's College London.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 60 works
  2. 2 Moscow State Institute of International RelationsRussia 54 works
  3. 3 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 36 works
  4. 4 Australian National UniversityAustralia 35 works
  5. 5 University of ChicagoUnited States 33 works
  6. 6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 25 works
  7. 7 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 24 works
  8. 8 National Research University Higher School of EconomicsRussia 23 works
  9. 9 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 23 works
  10. 10 Leibniz AssociationGermany 22 works

Who are the leading researchers in International Relations and Foreign Policy?

The most-cited researchers publishing on International Relations and Foreign Policy include Daron Acemoğlu, Элинор Остром and Robert B. Jackson.

  1. 1 Daron Acemoğlu United States 164k citations
  2. 2 Элинор Остром United States 149k citations
  3. 3 Robert B. Jackson United States 149k citations
  4. 4 Noam Chomsky United States 141k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in International Relations and Foreign Policy?

The most cited paper in International Relations and Foreign Policy is "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games" (Robert D. Putnam, 1988), with 7,438 citations. Next come "Theory of International Politics, by Kenneth N. Waltz" (6,392) and "World Society and the Nation‐State" (4,712).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games Robert D. Putnam · International Organization 1988 7,438
2 Theory of International Politics, by Kenneth N. Waltz Robert F. Randle · Political Science Quarterly 1980 6,392
3 World Society and the Nation‐State John W. Meyer, John Boli, GEORGE M. THOMAS et al. · American Journal of Sociology Jul 1997 4,712
4 Rationalist explanations for war James D. Fearon · International Organization 1995 4,017
5 Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory Robert W. Cox · Millennium Journal of International Studies Jun 1981 2,937
All 97 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is International Relations and Foreign Policy research done?

The largest centres of International Relations and Foreign Policy research in 2022-now are Moscow (Russia), London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China) and Washington D.C. (United States).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MoscowRussia 183 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 122 works
  3. 3 BeijingChina 115 works
  4. 4 Washington D.C.United States 98 works
  5. 5 IstanbulTürkiye 85 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 69 works
  7. 7 AnkaraTürkiye 67 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 55 works
  9. 9 SeoulSouth Korea 54 works
  10. 10 IslamabadPakistan 49 works
See International Relations and Foreign Policy on the map

Where is the best place to study International Relations and Foreign Policy?

Among universities, judged by research, Australian National University, European University Institute and University of Oxford score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 21.41%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Stockholm UniversityEuropean University …University of OxfordAustralian National …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Australian National UniversityAustralia 67.415.5%16.1×35 +19.6%
2European University InstituteItaly 66.324.4%53.6×17 +216.8%
3University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 65.122.7%4.1×25 +2.0%
4Stockholm UniversitySweden 63.432.3%5.8×8 +15.4%
5King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 61.821.2%9.9×36 -18.7%
6Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 61.627.6%2.5×9 +47.7%
7Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore 60.321.9%6.3×21 -13.5%
8University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 59.229.4%2.8×10 +25.9%
9London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 58.616.3%22.3×22 -9.2%
10University of ChicagoUnited States 57.52.8%9.0×33 +309.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in International Relations and Foreign Policy, country by country

Is International Relations and Foreign Policy research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are International Relations and Foreign Policy.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is International Relations and Foreign Policy as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.022% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%International Relations and Foreign Policy0.021% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of International Relations and Foreign Policy over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%International Relations and Foreign Policy10.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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