MA International Relations

You must have an undergraduate 2:2 degree in a relevant field such as political science, social science, liberal arts, law, business, communications or other relevant degree.

Alternatively, equivalent professional experience working in an international relations context can be considered. This is assessed by a telephone interview with a member of the course team and judged on the roles you have undertaken rather than the length of service.

MA International Relations is a specialised postgraduate course for students coming from relevant disciplines rather than a conversion course.

For international students, IELTS 6.0 overall bands with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the four categories is required. Alternative language testing certificates may be permitted.

For general information please see our overview of entry requirements

International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country

For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more

Graduates may enter an international organisation, NGO, not-for-profit charity organization, policy or advocacy group, research consortium, human rights campaigning, humanitarian agency, legal assistant, academic, war journalist or foreign office.

Diplomacy and Peacekeeping in Practice

Gain an understanding of interventions and their interrelationship with political will and geopolitical interests. Analyse diplomatic efforts to deter warfare from the rule of sovereignty and its relationship with the United Nations (UN) Charter. It will commence with conceptions of negative and positive peace and its impact on overarching peacekeeping mandates, post-conflict reconstruction, security sector reform, statebuilding and peacebuilding strategies.

Efforts to endorse peace utilising UN and other third party mediation efforts including peacekeepers monitoring ceasefire agreements and rebuilding state institutions are extensively covered from the end of the Cold War period to contemporary interventions. This includes the negotiation of peace agreements to bring an end to conflicts, regimes responsible for mass atrocities and the repercussions of bargaining for short-term peace which induces warlords to enter cabinet and parliamentary posts whilst excluding spoilers of the peace process. Spoiler management strategy will thus be critically evaluated within a variety of contexts. Some of the cases covered include Serbia and Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Drivers of Armed Conflict

Gain an insight into the motivations behind conflict and the impacts it has on violently divided societies. The module specifically analyses the underlying factors that motivate and/or protract conflicts. An assessment is made on the greed versus grievance thesis followed by a political economy approach to examine neo-patrimonial ran governments and limited access orders. As a consequence, patronage-relations and systemic corruption hinders state development due to favouring distinct social groups over others. Furthermore, public funds are susceptible to embezzlement, illicit commodities are traded, aid is frequently misused, and the rule of law remains weak to hold political elites accountable for malpractice.

These shortcomings are forms of state failure and state capture. A range of contexts are explored to apply these theoretical underpinnings concerning the motivations of armed conflict. Some of these cases include the former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Angola, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Rwanda.

International Relations Dissertation