The two year International Relations degree track at IUJ, as already noted, has both coursework and thesis components. The program is designed to provide a structured, systematic approach to understanding international political, strategic, economic, social and cultural issues in the Asian Pacific and Islamic worlds, to train students to conduct large scale research projects, to develop sustained, logical lines of argument, to defend their positions orally before highly critical audiences and to cultivate a sympathetic interest in other peoples, other civilizations and other ways of life. The program has been constructed in such a way as to give students the maximum freedom to pursue their own interests, within the limits of the specializations offered by the School. Coursework is exacting and the highest possible standards are expected of theses and research essays.