International political economy (IPE) is a branch of political science and economics that analyzes international relations in combination with political economy.

As economics became increasingly central to international relations in the 1970s and 1980s, the subfield of international political economy expanded. Scholars of IPE study trade relations and financial relations among nations, and try to understand how nations have cooperated politically to create and maintain institutions that regulate the flow of international economic and financial transactions.

As a theory of International Relations, it discusses the inseparable nature of Power and Wealth, reflected through the interactions of the State and the Market Economy. Emphasized within this theory is the interdependence among states and their societies. The now present Global Economy has created a transnational economy within a system of competing states.

The Purpose of the IPE theory is to suggest direction for further investigation within the area of International Relations.