The Institute of International Relations (IIR) of China Foreign Affairs University, originally the Institute for International History Studies (IIHS), was founded in 1955 as the earliest research and teaching institutes on international affairs in China. It was renamed as IIR in 1984 with the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. The Institute was accredited with the power to confer M.A. & Ph.D. degrees respectively in 1979 and 1984. The IIR now has 16 full time instructors, including 9 professors, 4 associate professors and 3 lecturers. All of them have Doctor’s and Master’s degrees. The faculty members have intensive overseas experience, outstanding academic records and great communication skills. They had either studied for years in universities abroad or served in Chinese embassies overseas. Since 1991, 12 faculty members have received special allowance from the State Council for their academic achievement. Professor Qin Yaqing, Professor Zhu Liqun and Professor Wang Fan received the “Award for Exceptional Educators in Beijing” respectively in 2006, 2007 and 2009. The institute also has a superb team of adjunct professors, who are either famous professors or senior diplomats. With their policy and theoretical insights, visions for academic innovation and mastery of foreign languages, these adjunct professors add to the appeal of the institute. Since 2004, China Foreign Affairs University has been one of only a couple of universities in China whose international relations discipline is the state’s key discipline. In 2009, the “Contemporary International Relations Teaching Team” won the award of “Excellent Teaching Team in Beijing”.
The institute has frequent exchanges with foreign academic institutions. Influential scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France and many other countries came to the institute to give lectures or participate in joint research programs. The institute has established routine faculty and graduate students exchanges programs with Russia University of Foreign Affairs, Moscow University of International Relations, Minsk University, University of Georgia, and PISA at George Washington University. The Institute has organized many high-ranking international conferences, such as “Globalization & East-Asian Oder”, “East Asian Regional Cooperation & Sino-U.S. Relations”, “Cooperative Security in East and Southeast Asia Learning from History to Meet Future Challenges ”. These exchanges keep the faculty in touch with the latest research breakthroughs, broaden their academic horizons and deepen cross-cultural dialogue and keep the momentum of the institute.
The IIR specializes on international relations theory and international security. The international relations research team led by Professor Qin Yaqing is dedicated to build up the Chinese School in international relations and has achieved trail blazer outputs. On international security, the team excels in great power strategy, regional security studies, and theory of international security. Diplomacy of the United States, the Soviet Union, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific are crucial areas in which the institute ranks among the top in China. The IIR has published more than 50 books and over 400 research papers. The team has finished one national level key research project, more than ten ministerial level research projects and several major international research programs sponsored by foreign partners such as the Ford Foundation and the European Union. Among them, many won national and Beijing excellent research awards.
With decades of hard work, the IIR has established a comprehensive courses system on international relations, and has contributed more than 80 courses to undergraduate, double-degree, graduate and Ph.D. students. The main courses include IR History, IR Theory, International Security, the Methodology of International Relations, the Strategies of Great Powers, Economic Diplomacy, and some regional studies courses such as Contemporary American Diplomacy, EU Studies, Middle East Studies, Asian-Pacific Studies, Russian Politics and Diplomacy. Among these courses, “International Relations History after the WWII” and “International Relations Theory” were awarded Excellent Courses in Beijing. A series of courses are excellent courses in China Foreign Affairs University.
More than 100 students received Ph.D. degrees from the IIR in the past 14 years. Over 200 graduate students received master’s degrees from the program in the past 23 years. At present, 37 students are in the Ph.D. Program and 72 graduate students are in the Master’s Program.
The incumbent director of the IIR is Professor Wang Fan
Deputy director is Associate Professor, Ms Lu Jing