International relations are the study of relationships bet-ween countries, including the roles of states, inter-govern-mental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). It is both an academic and public policy field, and can be either positive or normative as it both seeks to analyse as well as formulate the foreign policy of particular states. It is often considered a branch of political science, but an important sector of academia prefer to treat it as an interdisciplinary field of study. Aspects of international relations have been studied for thousands of years, since the time of Thucydides, but IR became a separate and definable discipline in the early 20th century. Apart from political science, IR draws upon such diverse fields as economics, history, international law, philosophy, geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, psychology, women's studies, gender studies, and cultural studies. It involves a diverse range of issues including but not limited to globalization, state sovereignty, international security, ecological sustainability, nuclear proliferation, nationalism, economic development, global finance, terrorism, organized crime, human security, foreign interventionism and human rights. Given this background, the Foundation underscores that traditional security policies such as deterrence and containment have been replaced by risk prevention, crisis intervention, and pre-emptive policy measures. The book presents a comprehensive study of international relations and benefits all undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, university teachers and other practitioners interested in the respective subject.