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International Relations & Political Science


International Relations & Political Science

Amnesty International On-Line
Amnesty is the world’s largest and possibly most effective NGO (nongovernmental organization) devoted to human rights. With a permanent research and administrative staff in London of more than 200, plus strong offices in many countries, it exercises greater influence in international affairs than some countries. Amnesty permits downloading of its releases, benefiting researches at all levels. This site should be bookmarked by all students of human rights.

Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisian membership organization founded in 1921, has created an informative, well-designed Web site that will interest students and scholars of international affairs. Navigation tools are straightforward, featuring menu selections for Issues by Region and Issues by Topic, which covers 14 key policy areas (e.g. economics, peace and conflict, terrorism, media and public opinion). Materials are very up-to-date, usually ranging from the current month to the past six months. Other interesting features of this site include an Encyclopedia of Terrorism, which includes 20 questions and answers on more than 20 terrorist groups; a crurrent World Events Calendar; a list of Council experts, arranged by topic of expertise; and a n extensive list of Council publications including books, task force reports, and papers. The Council on Foreign Relations site is a useful resource for authoritative and timely global background information and policy analysis.

EUROPA
Europa provides an access to information (press releases, legislation, fact-sheets) published by the European Union and its institutions.

European Union Internet Resources
Its primary purpose has been to provide an organized view and easy access to EU Web resources. The documents section is arranged by type of document (e.g. bibliographic tools, EU journals, treaties) and provides links to both documents in full text and other sites that contain documents. It is updated approximately monthly.

EUROSTAT
The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) is the statistical arm of the European Commission, producing data for the European Union and promoting harmonization of statistical methods across the member states. Three of its particularly significant roles are: (1) producing macroeconomic data which helps guide the European Central Bank in its monetary policy for the euro (2) providing the data used for the Excessive Deficit Procedure and (3) its regional data and classification (NUTS) which guide the EU's structural policies. Eurostat website offers free access to download nearly all of its data and electronic publications grouped into the following themes: General & regional statistics, economy & finance, population & social conditions, industry, trade & services, agriculture & fisheries, external trade, transport, environment &  energy and science & technology.

Forced Migration Online: a World of Information on Human Displacement
FMO provides instant access to online sources about people displaced by either conflicts or natural disasters. Intended for practitioners and academic researchers, this graphics-enhanced database is strengthened in its effort to provide impartial information by being associated with estimable institutions like Oxford (its home base), the European Union’s Europe and Aid Office, the American University in Cairo, the Czech Helsinki Committee, and Columbia and Tufts universities. FMO offers committee-reviewed guides written by regional and subject experts. Its Digital Library offers full-text documents, both historical and current in emphasis, including grey materials (those not available through normal publishing channels). Copies of printed articles in leading forced migration journals are also accessible.

Foreign Affairs Online
This massive Web site is an organized collection of several thousand links to important sites for the study of international relations. The subject is divided into 11 general sections, each subdivided. Secondary and lower divisions are arranged alphabetically or geographically as appropriate. The site is well maintained and current, with the most recent update to each section noted. The site’s scope is broad-it provides links to every part of the US government, all the UN agencies, the constitutions of all of the nations of the world, maps of the Australian states, and much more.

MIPT: National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
The variety of useful resources maintained by MIPT is no small accomplishment, given the diverse range of issues included under the rubric of he prevention of terrorism. MIPT addresses a number of pragmatic issues relevant to both researchers and personnel involved in direct responses to terrorist threats or terrorist incidents. For example, the site includes easily accessible discussions and materials under subheadings such as Psychological Effects of Terrorism, Protective Clothing and First Responders, and Communications and Terrorist Response. In each case, the site provides specific advice to practitioners regarding potential problem areas and recommended responses. Other issues include the relationship between the response to terrorists and civil liberties and information regarding specific terrorist threats such as anthrax and smallpox. Among the most useful components of MIPT are tools for academic researchers. These include databases regarding domestic terrorism, international terrorism, public opinion surveys regarding the issue of terrorism, a terrorism bibliography and links to research centers and think tanks.

Poly-Cy: Internet Resources for Political Science
Among the plethora of Web sites devoted to political science, Poly-CY is outstanding for its wide range of links and explanatory material. Links are organized into categories with multiple subtopics: The Profession, Teaching, Research, Service, Academic Subfields, Politics and Reference. Although there is an emphasis on the US, extensive international links are included.

Richard Kimber’s Political Science Resources
This extensive gateway continues to be one of the best starting points for finding Web sites relating to politics and government. Organized in 14 main categories, links are then often subarranged alphabetically by country. The Area Studies category is especially strong because each country page within it contains links to relevant resources that appear in other sections of the site. As might be expected in a UK site, the British Politics category is very extensive and detailed.

UN News Centre
Available in all six of the official languages of the United Nations, this site is a treasure trove of information, which is both its strength and its weakness. Pages are overladen with links to other layers. There are nearly 100 links on the elongated first page alone. Users can read the UN Daily News register for e-mail news alerts and browse and search news by region, topic and date. Other sections of the site include Press Releases, News Conferences, Multimedia, Resources and News Magazines. The maps, documents and other information are very important and useful.

WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
Introducing the term ‘cyberlibrary’ brings together an incredibly diverse range of URLs to include libraries, news sources, US government sites, research institutes, nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations, and official country sites. This resource should be included in all international relations course syllabi. Highly recommended for undergraduates, graduates students, and researches in International Relations.