International studies is in all cases referring to the broader multidisciplinary IR field, where also global economics, law, and world history form central components of scholarship. International politics is concerned with the special kind of power relationships that exist in a community lacking an overriding authority international economics deals with trade relations across national boundaries that are complicated by the uncontrolled actions of sovereign states and international law is law that is based on voluntary acceptance by independent nations. Dunn wrote that IR was about "relations that take place across national boundaries" and "between autonomous political groups in a world system." Dunn wrote that unique elements characterized IR and separated it from other subfields:
In the inaugural issue of World Politics, Frederick S. An undergraduate degree in multidisciplinary international relations may lead to a more specialised master's degree of either international politics, economics, or international law. In institutions where international relations refers to the broader multidisciplinary field of global politics, law, economics and history, the subject may be studied across multiple departments, or be situated in its own department, as is the case at for example the London School of Economics. This is for example the case in Scandinavia, where international relations are often simply referred to as international politics (IP). In many academic institutions, studies of IR are thus situated in the department of politics/social sciences. As a subdiscipline of political science, the focus of IR studies lie on political, diplomatic and security connections between states, as well as the study of modern political world history. International relations or international affairs is, dependent on the academic institution, either a subdiscipline of political science, or a broader multidisciplinary field of global politics, law, economics and world history. 5.1.2 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.5.1 Generalist inter-state organizations.5 Institutions in international relations.4.3 Individual or sub-unit level concepts.