Ah, reading. According to some of my students, once they get hold of a book, they start feeling queasy. As they read, they develop lightheadedness. Some start convulsing in pain. Ten minutes in, they have to be escorted to the ER. No seriously, this is exactly how one of my students described the experience of reading an introductory text in International Political Economy.

Hyperbole aside, reading, especially academic texts, is not the most exciting activity there is, but it is the most important part of studying IR. After all, a large part of IR is about understanding the thoughts of other scholars through their written work.