International Relations MA Honours

Middlesex University

The aim of this module is to provide you with the skills to enable you to analyse foreign policy practices as crucial sites of political agency and choice in the contemporary geopolitics of international relations. You will draw on the advanced classical and critical theories of international relations and geopolitical perspectives applied to the study of foreign policy traditions, strategies and practices of the key actors and cases in global politics.

In this module you have the opportunity to analyse changes in the global security agenda since the end of the Cold War, both empirically and theoretically. You will explore the meaning of security and compare competing theoretical perspectives in the discipline. The transformation of military security threats is then analysed with particular emphasis on the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the significance of global terrorism. The module then encourages you to explore the rise of nonmilitary issues of state and human security including human rights abuses, environmental change, crime, disease, poverty, and disasters.

In this module your studies will focus on the implications of the forces of globalisation in International Relations. You'll look in particular at international political processes and institutions at the level of politics, economics and culture. You'll analyse the relevance of international organisations, and look at transnational politics and issues of global importance. You will explore theoretical debates surrounding these issues and in this way, critically evaluate the effectiveness of international policy. The module aims to provide a platform for students to work constructively in groups, gain leadership skills and formulate arguments and coherent debates in a diverse international environment.

This module prepares you to complete either a dissertation or an assessed work placement or a work based learning project. You will attend a series of lectures and workshops and online exercises address research methodologies, skills and employability. You will undertake a series of formative and summative assessments developing your critical and practical skills and leading to either; I) the production of a research proposal or ii) a critical review of the work of the organization you are to be placed with or work with. The satisfactory completion of the module will then allow you to proceed to writing a dissertation of 10-12,000 words or to embark on a work placement assessed by production of a project report / paper and exercises reflecting on your experience.