What is difference between international relations and international development?

summernights.: What is difference between international relations and international development?
Hiii,
I’ve accepted my program in University — Political science with a concentration in international relations and I was wondering what the difference between international relations and & development is?
Thanks.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Laurelia C
Well, international relations is always there when you have internation development…I think

Answer by Coffee
Here are the differences between International Studies, International Development and International Relations. I myself will major in Political Science with a minor in Int Development this fall.

International Development generally focuses on underdeveloped countries and usually includes a regional focus (Africa, Latin America, or Asia, though sometimes you can concentrate a lot on Eastern European countries) and includes an array of courses focusing on anthropology (Ex., Human needs, nutrition history), geography (Ex., the geographies of disease, or the impact of geography on migration), health studies (child and maternal health care), and economics (micro-credit initiatives.)

International Studies is often confused with International Relations, but there are differences here too. International Studies tends to focus on globalization and the relationships between people, economics, media, and other intangible forces that make up our international community. At University of Toronto in Canada for example, you can choose between two “streams” in International Studies:

A) the Communications stream (which includes mandatory courses on international cultures and communication, media and art – say, like, “Media and Popular Culture in East and Southeast Asia”) ; and

B) the International Political Economy stream (which includes a focus on international trade and finance, the world bank, development policy, public policies on health/development/economics.)

So the IDS and the IS-Political Economy stream are very similar, but the latter doesn’t include a regional focus, and it also includes developed countries in the analysis of these international relationships. So IDS and IS are not actually the same.

Lastly, International Relations focuses substantially more on political science than it does on economics or sociological movements. International Relations has less to do with the plight of people within countries, and focuses more on the institutions of the state and the relationships between states themselves. Courses generally revolve around the definition of the state, the role of intergovernmental organizations, the resolution of international conflict, etc. It is about the relationships between states themselves, and not the people within those states.

So all are very similar and focus on international relationships of some kind, but basically the first one (IDS) is for people who are interested in helping developing countries (people like me!); the second is for people who are interested in cultural changes or international economics; and the third is more for people who are interested in the relationships between states.