<p>Is it studying economic/political/cultural relations between countries? Or is there more to it?</p>
<p>Biochemistry is to medicine as mathematics is to economics as political science is to international relations.</p>
<p>International relations is applied political science with a global scope. You will also be required or recommended to take courses in history, psychology, anthropology, etc. Some schools have International Studies programs, which are more anthropology/history than political science.</p>
<p>^Don’t forget to study a foreign language. Most grad programs in International Relations require fluency in a second language (reading, writing, and speaking).</p>
<p>If you go to the academic are of the website of any college that has an international relations major, you can find out about what courses IR majors have to take. That’s the best way to learn about what a major requires.</p>