International Relations MSc

International Relations is the study of how states, societies and people interact globally, in settings such as  international organisations, multinational corporations, security alliances, trade and financial institutions, international courts, but also non-governmental, grass-roots and other constellations.  

The programme spans:

* war, armed conflict, and security

* diplomacy and statecraft

* trade and economic coercion

* climate change and environmental politics

* migration, borders, and displacement

* poverty and development

* international law and human rights

Much of what held the post-Second World War order together is currently under strain. Who sets the rules, what deters aggression, and how can cooperation be achieved when it conflicts with national interest? These are highly contested questions in the field, which makes this a demanding moment to study the subject and a useful one. 

The programme gives you intensive training in the theory and the practice of international relations, aimed at students who want to deepen their understanding of them, and who expect to work on these and other challenges.

Our teaching is grounded in research. Staff work closely on the major international institutions and on the history of ideas that produced them. The programme is built so that you learn to move between competing theoretical frameworks, what each one brings into focus, and what each one leaves out.\
Some of the questions we might discuss:

* Is the post-Second World War order ending - or just changing hands?

* When does deterrence keep the peace, and when does it cause a war?

* States have every reason to cheat each other. Why do they cooperate at all?

* When did trade stop being about prosperity and start being about leverage?

* What do explanations of world politics miss when they leave gender and race out?

* How is climate change challenging state power?