The magazine was established in 2000 as an effort to lead a student-driven force in academia. Toby A. A. Heaps, then vice-president for internal operations within IRSAM, compiled a collection of works by students, professors, and affiliates to produce the first edition, entitled Canada in the World. The magazine sought to establish itself as a neutral forum for university students to express their interest in international affairs. Early contributors included Louise Arbour, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and renowned Canadian historian Desmond Morton.
Restructuring
The structure of IRSAM was changed in 2010; consequentially, the magazine was given more autonomy. Its emphasis shifted from being a space for academic discourse to creating a high-quality research journal by and for the McGill undergraduate community. In 2013, Ameya Pendse, then IRSAM Vice-President of Internal Operations, expanded the publication to include an online platform with the aim of engaging a wider year-round readership, both within and beyond McGill. 2014 saw the introduction of blogs into the online edition, under then Editor-in-Chief Alexander Langer.
Current structure
Print
The print edition has been produced biannually from 2000 to 2010, and annually since 2010. Papers are usually upwards of 2,000 words. Accepted writers, representing all academic disciplines and political persuasions of the McGill community, are paired with an editor. Together, they work on the submission for the duration of the school year. Before publishing, it is peer-reviewed.
Online
The online edition was launched in 2013 under Ameya Pendse, then IRSAM Vice-President of Internal Operations. It maintains a much larger base of writers than the print edition and is updated daily with new articles. The focus of the online edition is to offer fresh perspectives on "hot topics" as well as cover relatively-unexplored subjects and issues, fostering productive discussion and debate on international affairs. The online edition currently offers several other formats, in addition to its feature articles: The blogs section consists of four to five blogs that are updated regularly. The themes of these blogs are far more specialized and specific than the other parts of the online edition. They are meant to give the readership an opportunity to explore a concerted, direct concentration on a single topic instead of reading a digest. The media team, meanwhile, regularly produces visual and audio content to complement the work of the feature team and pursue investigative projects on a number of niche issues.
Recent Achievements and Future
Under Dylan Lamberti and Miro Guzzini, 2016-17 saw an exponential growth in readership, a dramatic increase in high quality submissions, and the production of more professionalized media projects This team effort earned MIR its first nomination for Publication of the Year by the Student Society of McGill University, as well as numerous academic citations. In 2017-18, Benjamin Aloi and Marie Lemieux assumed independent seats on the IRSAM Board of Directorsfor the first time in the publication's history, and the two built on last year's tremendous success in consistently delivering excellent critical analysis in international affairs. The team received its second nomination for SSMU Publication of the Year. The executive board of MIR Online included Sarie Khalid and Frankie Wallace. In 2018-2019, under Marie Fester the MIR Print rebranded, changing its name to Flux: International Relations Review. Now an exclusively online journal, the McGill International Review's executive board has four members: Sarie Khalid, Shirley Wang, Alec Regino, David Boot, and Camille Point. With Laura Millo's direction, the MIR established its French division to provide insightful analysis of international affairs in French. The MIR won its first SSMU Publication of the Year award in 2019.
