international relations

noun, plural in form but singular in construction

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Definition of international relations

: a branch of political science concerned with relations between nations and primarily with foreign policies

Recent Examples of international relations from the Web

President Trump’s unconventional approach to international relations could face its biggest test next week.

— latimes.com, "Today: High Stakes, Low Prep," 8 June 2018
In the realm of international relations, Hadley and others said, Trump often creates crises as a way of gaining leverage over others.

— karen deyoung, Washington Post, "In Trump, some fear the end of the world order," 8 June 2018
In the realm of international relations, Hadley and others said, Trump often creates crises as a way of gaining leverage over others.

— karen deyoung, Anchorage Daily News, "In Trump, some see the end of the world order," 8 June 2018
The Hague is located on the coast of South Holland and the international relations hub is the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and nearby Rotterdam.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "Prince Harry Just Revealed the Location of the 2020 Invictus Games," 4 June 2018
But there was one issue notably absent from his populist oratory: international relations, specifically those with the neighbor to the north.

— New York Times, "Why Is Trump ‘Not Important’ in Mexico Election? All Candidates Are Against Him," 3 June 2018
Murrett, who also serves as deputy director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at the college, specializes in national security, international relations, military and defense strategy.

— madeline farber, Fox News, "What Trump, Kim Jong Un were expected to discuss at historic summit in Singapore," 26 May 2018
His willingness to employ bold, seat-of-the-pants strategies has thrilled his base but has met more severe limits in the high-stakes setting of international relations.

— john wagner, BostonGlobe.com, "Trump sounds note of optimism on North Korea," 25 May 2018
But, given Trump’s temperament and limited understanding of international relations, a breakthrough was highly unlikely—at least in a summit between the two leaders.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Donald Trump just pulled out of the North Korea summit.," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'international relations.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.