Course description
Structure and Content
The core modules are:
International Conflict and Cooperation Analysis:
This module aims to critically evaluate theories and causes of conflict in international relations, issues of war and peace in modern European and world history and attempts at cooperative efforts built around hegemonic and non-hegemonic actors in international affairs.
International Organisations: This module provides an in-depth analysis of the UN, NATO, WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, regional organisations such as NAFTA and ASEAN and of the EU as an international organisation. It will also consider non-governmental international organisations, such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross.
Research Skills and Methods A: During the first semester, you will be taught comparative methods in the social sciences, with particular emphasis on the study of political and economic history and international relations/conflict.
Research Skills and Methods B/Project Design: During the second semester, you will present your own research plan, leading to your research dissertation project, thus achieving both standards of independent intellectual analysis and a spirit of community.
Optional Modules (note that not all optional modules are available at any one time):
Conflicts and Cooperation in the Balkans: This module examines the rise and fall of Yugoslavia, the ethnic and religious conflicts that marred the wider Balkan region in the 1990s, as well as the role of external actors in the management and, at times, accentuation of conflicts.
EU-Russian Relations: The focus of this module is the developing relationship between an expanding EU and a new, post-Cold War Russia; the impact of this developing relationship on Russian-German relations and the wider geo-politics and geo-economics of the Eurasian continent.
The Cyprus Conflict and International Relations: This module looks at one of the few successful UN peacekeeping missions in war zones. It attempts an in-depth analysis of the strategic interests of both exogenous and endogenous actors in the shaping and resolution of the Cyprus conflict since the 1950s.
Conflict in Independent Africa: This module explores conflict in post-colonial Africa. It will focus on the causes and consequences of conflict in Africa, the role of international actors in African conflicts (e.g. the Cold War and the Angolan civil war), regional conflicts such as that in the Great Lakes region, border wars (e.g. Nigeria vs. Cameroon), civil wars (e.g. Liberia and Sierra Leone) and genocide (e.g. Rwanda).
International Conflict and WWI: Origins and Aftermath: The purpose of this module is to explain the role of international disputes, alliances, conflicts and agreements over the question of Ottoman succession in the Balkans and the Near East from 1903 to 1923. Explanation of past conflicts in the Balkan and Near Eastern regions will better enable you to understand your present and contemplate your future.
The Conflict between Christendom and Islam: Christendom has been in abeyance for centuries. Yet in 21st-century Europe (and beyond) it has been revived, in fear of its ancient foe, Islam. This option examines the nature of this millennial antagonism, how and why it has re-emerged and considers the possible consequences.
Conflict and Geopolitics in the Greater Middle East: This module looks at America’s greater Middle Eastern policy – officially launched in 2004 – in the context of its broader foreign policy in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Gulf area after the end of the Cold War. The Arab-Israeli conflict and the new geo-politics of oil and gas occupy a central position in this module.
Research Dissertation Project: A research project conducted and reported to publishable standard in a 15,000 word dissertation. The project is supervised by a member of staff and represents a major part of the final MSc assessment.
Delivery and Assessment
Modules will typically be delivered by lecture and seminar, although the emphasis will be on student participation and discussion, workshop sessions, as well as a variety of formal and informal presentations.
Career Opportunities
This programme is designed to meet the needs of both current and future practitioners as well as those intending to further their knowledge on a specific subject by pursuing a research degree after the completion of their MSc thesis. On completing the programme, graduates may expect to find employment in organisations that are governmental (FCO, MoD and the respective ministries in other countries), inter-governmental (EU, NATO, UN, NAFTA, WTO) and non-governmental (Amnesty International, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch).
