The present work aims at analysing different types of text in the International Relations field. The texts are arranged according to the source they were taken from. Hereby follows a set of seven readings taken from international documents such as international law, treaties, conventions, agreements; a set of four extracts taken from speeches and declarations; a set of eleven articles related to international issues organised into two different sections according to the geographical area they focus on. Clear objectives are stated for each text. In particular, in the first section the analysis is mainly devoted to the specific lexis of documentary English and to its typical grammatical structures. In the second section the use of rhetorical devices (metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron...) is predominantly taken into consideration for the correct understanding of the contents. Finally, in the third section the above mentioned linguistic tools are applied to the selected articles in complete reading comprehension activities. Tratto dalla Premessa dell'Autrice