As a student of International Relations (IR), I often found myself turning to current events to make sense of every concept afresh. Balance of power. Alliances. Wars. Diplomacy. Sanctions. None of these felt distant anymore. They were unfolding around us. Swiftly. Almost relentlessly. Things are changing.

There was a time when IR lived in the past. It was world wars; cold war; old treaties. Structured narratives. Clear timelines. We read them. We understood them. We believed we had understood the world. However, the distance has now vanished.

The news is no longer supplementary. It is central. Headlines have become living case studies. Events are not concluded chapters. They are ongoing. Unfinished. Uncertain. War is no longer history. It is presence.

Realism suddenly feels less like theory and more like observation. Power matters. It always did. Military strength matters. Geography matters. Nations act in self-interest. Not always in morality. Not always in fairness. The world does not pause to justify itself. And yet, questions remain.

If institutions exist, why do conflicts persist? If global bodies are present, why do they appear limited? Why does dialogue fail when it is needed the most? These questions do not have neat........

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