This chapter examines the emerging scholarship on Global International Relations (Global IR), placing it in a broader disciplinary context. I review Global IR’s key claim (Mainstream International Relations Theory is inadequate), introduce its main tenets, benefits, and criticisms levelled at it, discuss one study of Global IR, and evaluate the extent to which it challenges mainstream IR theory. Having shown the contribution Global IR can make to our discipline, I point out five risks in doing Global IR and offer two ways to mitigate the substantial risk of essentialism. The conclusion makes the case for Global IR to promote greater epistemological innovation.
Part of the book: International Relations