<p>I know most grad programs require some knowledge of a foreign language, but it usually amounts to just easy translations of a small work. But in the job market, does an IR Masters have any value if its holder isn’t bilingual at all? </p>
<p>Sure. We have international relations with Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Of course, it will limit your options. Most undergrad programs nowadays require at least a little knowledge of a foreign language.</p>
<p>Indeed, but not all IR-related work requires communication in a foreign language, no?</p>
<p>^Sure, but a great deal of it will. It is, after all, international relations. Also be aware that there are literally thousands of competent people who can speak English and will be competing with you for posts in the English-speaking world. A person who can speak at least one other language will be much more valuable and have more options in the field.</p>
<p>I’m sure that the master’s does have some value and that monolingual IR people can find some jobs with an MA, but I think the greatest opportunities are if you know another language or two.</p>
<p>What everyone else said above is somewhat correct and could apply for all jobs, but language is only one way of breaking into the field of “international relations” – whatever it is. Since IR is interdisciplinary, you can do a bunch of things with it. If you don’t have language abilities (and it often doesn’t matter unless you can actually DO something with that language like translation, interpretation, reading, writing, etc), then you’ll find people try to capitalize on other strengths like being a functional expert in things like security, education, development, environment to name a few (and then they specialize even further from there based on their research interests), etc where those skills can be used but your knowledge is more heavily weighted considering what you’ve done in that functional field. </p>
<p>I think it’s a misconception (or language abilities could be played down) that IR majors need to have language skills to succeed in their job search. Although being bilingual or multilingual can be an asset, like it is in any job, it may be less or more weighted depending on what you are planning on doing with your MA. That being said, you’ll find that the people who do study IR do somehow seem to have more language skills which can make the field competitive. On the other hand, IR research and academia is heavily US centric which is why oftentimes some jobs won’t need your language skills to be put to use. </p>
<p>Edit: But, of course, I’m not discouraging second language acquisition since it can only help you. I think the better question is what you want to do with your degree and what jobs/career you are looking at. </p>