Eroding Boundaries, Contested Terrain

International studies is a contested domain, making the attainment of a genuinely global discipline extremely difficult. While there has been a significant broadening of the field, the American study of international relations, like that elsewhere, remains highly parochial: geographically, linguistically, methodologically, and politically. One way to overcome provincialism is to examine international relations scholarship from other parts of the world and to draw on the insights of more than one discipline. Difference lies at the heart of international studies, and we must favor approaches that entail empathetic understanding and can accommodate seemingly incompatible differences.