International relations attempts to explain the interactions of states in the global interstate system, and it also attempts to explain the interactions of others whose behavior originates within one country and is targeted toward members of other countries. In short, the study of international relations is an attempt to explain behavior that occurs across the boundaries of states, the broader relationships of which such behavior is a part, and the institutions (private, state, nongovernmental, and intergovernmental) that oversee those interactions. Explanations of that behavior may be sought at any level of human aggregation. Some look to psychological and social-psychological understandings of why foreign policymakers act as they do. Others investigate institutional processes and politics as factors contributing to the externally directed goals and behavior of states. Alternatively, explanations may be found in the relationships between and among the participants (for example, balance of power), in the intergovernmental arrangements among states (for example, collective security), in the activities of multinational corporations (for example, the distribution of wealth), or in the distribution of power and control in the world as a single system.
International Relations Faculty
Mark Copelovitch
Position title: Professor of Political Science & Public Affairs | International Relations
Email: copelovitch@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 265-3678
Address:
401 North Hall
Office Hours: By appointment
Yoshiko M. Herrera
Position title: Professor: Comparative Politics | International Relations
Email: yherrera@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-2241
Address:
316 North Hall
Lisa Martin
Position title: Professor: International Relations | Political Methodology
Email: llmartin3@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-2035
Address:
417 North Hall
Jon C. W. Pevehouse
Position title: Vilas Distinguished Professor of Political Science: International Relations | Political Methodology
Email: pevehous@polisci.wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 262-4839
Address:
313 North Hall
Office Hours: By appointment
Jonathan Renshon
Position title: Hawkins Associate Professor and Trice Faculty Scholar: International Relations | Political Methodology
Email: renshon@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-2272
Address:
406 North Hall
Nadav Shelef
Position title: Professor and Associate Chair/Director of Graduate Studies. Comparative Politics | International Relations
Email: shelef@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-2280
Address:
414 North Hall
Jessica L. P. Weeks
Position title: Professor of Political Science and H. Douglas Weaver Chair in Diplomacy and International Relations
Email: jweeks@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-2390
Address:
412 North Hall