The School of International Studies at Renmin University of China is one of the oldest and most esteemed faculties in the PRC specializing in international relations and politics. Zhou Enlai, China's former Premier and Foreign Minister, established the school, and since its inception, it has made significant intellectual contributions to Chinese political development, foreign policy, and international cooperation.

The school is composed of seven teaching and research units, including the Department of International Politics, the Department of Diplomacy, the Department of Political Science, the Department of National Security Studies, the Institute of World Socialism, the Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, the Institute of International Development, and the Institute of Chinese Political Studies.

Additionally, the School hosts many research centers, namely, the Center for European Studies, which is a member of the National Key Research Bases for Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Center for European Union Studies, a member of the National Key Research Bases for Area Studies. The school is also home to a great variety of research centers including the Institute of lnternational Affairs, the Center for United Nations Studies, the Center for International Energy Strategy Studies, the Center for China's International Strategy Studies, the Center for American Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Institute of Political Thought and Culture, the Center for Comparative Politics, the Center for Historical and Political Studies, and the Center for the Building of a Clean Government.These research centers are organized in the form of projects that allow faculty and students to engage with cutting-edge research on a diverse array of area and thematic issues.

The School offers five undergraduate programs, such as International Politics, Diplomacy, Political Science and Administration, International Political Economy, and History and Politics (taught jointly with the School of History). It additionally provides nine graduate programs at the master's and doctoral levels taught in Chinese, along with two programs in English - the Double Masters Program in Asian and European Studies (jointly with King's College London) and the Contemporary China Studies Program.

The School is an academic hub for the development of two emerging fields of studies - historical politics and world politics. Faculty members have published and lectured on these fields of study. The School also edits several academic journals, including World Political Studies and Chinese Political Science, which promote discipline development.

The School has a total of 74 full-time faculty members, including 34 professors, 26 associate professors, and 14 lecturers, and many world-renowned scholars serve as honorary, visiting, and adjunct professors. The School currently has a total enrollment of 1,018 students, including 407 undergraduates, 247 master's students, and 224 doctoral students. Among them, 140 students are international.

The School actively participates in international exchanges and has established cooperative relationships with more than 30 universities in Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and other regions. The School was a pioneer in offering Master's programs conducted in English. It hosts a special international academic master lecture program to share experience and views from major figures in the field. Notable examples include, Peter Kazanstein, former president of the American Political Association and current professor of International Relations at Cornell University, John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, Professor Odd Arne Westad from Yale University, Professor Sir Richard Evans and Professor Hans van de Ven from the University of Cambridge, and Professor Rana Mitter from the University of Oxford. The School's yearly international forums, including “China and World Order,” have received high recognition from scholars at home and abroad.