Department of International Relations

The globalization of world politics has considerably intensified the relations between states, and among both international institutions and multi-national organizations. The discipline of International Relations has emerged and evolved to understand the rapid change of world politics and meet the needs of our time. Our students in the International Relations program seek the answers to various questions such as how wars erupt, how national and international security is provided, why states have different political systems, how different states make foreign policies, as well as the causes and consequences of globalization.

The main objective of our department is to enable students to evaluate the most recent political developments with non-committal, critical, analytical, and interdisciplinary approaches with a historical background. While the International Relations program provides a theoretical approach to current global political issues, it also guides students on how to adapt their knowledge to the field studies and business life. Our main objective is to raise individuals with open minds and the ability to produce critical and innovative thinking about the world around them.

The program benefits from the experiences of prominent experts in the fields of security and foreign policy. Our students have the opportunity to listen to and have contacts with academicians, politicians, and foreign policy-makers by means of conferences, panels, workshops, and various projects. Moreover, our students can continue their academic studies abroad via our bilateral-education programs with European universities. Thanks to these programs, foreign visiting professors also visit Işık University and contribute to the education of our students.

Our academic team is young and dynamic with doctoral degrees from various reputable universities from around the world with specializations in different areas of Political Science and International Relations. Their expertise in various fields provides them with prominent eligibility for guiding our students in various sub-branches of the field. Our graduates can be employed in sectors such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, public and private institutions, international organizations, the media, advertising agencies, research centers and multinational companies, or they can pursue graduate education for Master's and Ph.D. degrees. Students also have the opportunity of enrolling in a double major or a minor program within the curriculum of Economics, Business Administration and Psychology.