International Relations, Conflict and Security MA
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

This module will engage with the political dilemmas we face in international relations today, and the concept, theories and practices that inform our decision-making in response. You will analyse a range of issues, such as the question of global solidarity in relation to issues such as under-development, natural catastrophes, conflict or human rights violations, the relative significance of culture, sovereignty and self-determination, and concepts such as consent, responsibility and autonomy.
You will investigate these dilemmas in light of international law, (power) politics and ethics, and how each inform, enable or constrain action. You will develop an appreciation of the problem of the indeterminateness of our knowledge of specific issues that despite their indeterminateness still require political action (including non-action).

You will learn about the most significant challenges to peace and order that we face today, recognising the changing nature of such challenges. Conflict and issues of security (or indeed insecurity) appear to go through phases, with some issues ebbing and rising over time. You will understand and conceptualise these through various lenses of security, for example nuclear security during the Cold War or ethnic conflict during the 1990s. This module aims to respond to broad trends in conflict and security, analysing their nature and impact on policy-making throughout the world. This may include (but is not limited to) issues such as global military interventions, migration, health security, gender, and cybersecurity.

In this module, you will investigate how scholars have conceptualised international relations, as well as conflict and war as key phenomena within it. You will gain a firm grounding in the discipline by critically analysing the foundations of structural and post-structural/critical theories if you have not studied International Relations before. If you have prior knowledge of International Relations theory, you will deepen your knowledge and understanding of theories by approaching them in a way that focuses on conceptual similarities and differences, analysing themes, as well as ontological, epistemological and methodological differences.

You will study structural theories such as those of the Realist and Liberal schools, including variants such as the English School and Constructivism, as well as post-structural and critical theories, such as Critical Theory, postmodernism, feminism, post-colonialism, international political theory. You will engage with Waltz’ three images and gain an overview over theories of the causes of war.

The module aims to explore how insecurity and harm are been conceptualised by the EU and how such conceptualisation has shaped its responses, both at the institutional and policy levels. On this basis, the module proposes to understand what kind of actor the EU has become in the area of internal security, focusing on traditional forms of insecurity such as organised crime, trafficking of drugs, trafficking of human beings, and terrorism, as well as non-traditional forms of insecurity including cyber security, health insecurity and and socio-economic insecurity. For this purpose, the module considers how inernal security policies are designed and how they are perceived by different actors on the ground. The module is also designed to reflect the practical context of working with and for an EU organisation. The module begins with an overview of the EU's approaches to these forms of insecurity and then moves on to different policy areas. It also looks into the EU institutions and agencies that are active in this area. Having discussed the different initiatives and actors present in this field, the module then turns to the results achieved and the reactions to the EU's initiatives.

You will learn to apply your research skills to a major piece of independent research and investigation. The dissertation will have a series of taught workshops focussing on dissertation skills, and methods teaching for those without prior knowledge of social sciences methods.

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Effective reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.