International Relations, Conflict and Security MA
28 Months Part-Time | January Start

The purpose of this module is to develop the participant’s ability in study skills and English language skills for academic purposes.

The module is designed to develop the participants as independent learners. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions, together with the tutor-directed study and independent reading. An interactive approach to seminars will draw upon the directed learning undertaken and participants’ own experience of study skills. Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading, preparation for interactive activities and use of the discussion board on the e-learning platform.
Independent learning will focus upon the participants identifying those skills which they need to develop and understand through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection. The sessions will attempt to follow the principles set out by the CEM model (Sloan and Porter, 2008)

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; for example nuclear security during the Cold War and in today’s North Korea, 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 in the UK, Europe and the world. This may include (but is not limited to) issues such as terrorism, migration, nuclear power, fake news, genocide, water, energy and gender imbalances.

Today insecurities, or challenges to security emerge from a range of sources – be that tensions between states, civil war half way around the world, terrorism or the lack of resources and economic development elsewhere. Thus, processes and policies to address such insecurities and challenges can not rely on unilateral action alone; instead, states, regional and international organisations, and private companies are engaged in security governance. In this module you will learn about different ways of conceptualising security governance from the public to the private, and study a range of institutions, such as NATO, OSCE, the EU, the UN and other regional organisations to understand security as part of a framework of multi-level governance in the security domain.
This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of how international and regional organisations function to maintain international peace and security. You will critically analyse how states cooperate in the context of these organisation and how they respond to global and regional security challenges.

In this module you will demonstrate advanced and independent critical thinking skills about the research process and a specific, substantial topic of your choice. In doing so you will develop robust, coherent and substantiated, advanced academic arguments in an identifiable area of enquiry. There are a number of options for the dissertation: literature-based, empirical, or placement-based dissertations. In formulating, research, and writing your dissertation you will be guided by your dissertation supervisor. The dissertation is the culmination of your taught experience and will enable you to deploy the skills develop during the taught programme.