Programme overview
Location
Streatham Campus, Exeter
The MA International Relations equips you with the tools to investigate the modern world and understand the forces which have shaped global politics.
At its core, the programme provides solid foundations in International Relations theory and will provide you with an understanding of how states, regions and multinational organisations have developed and interact. You will investigate the important questions relevant to world politics such as what are weak states, how do they become this way, and why do states go to war?
Flexibility to follow your interests
While the MA International Relations has particular focus on issues such as security, terrorism, global resistance movements, human rights, international law and governance, there is considerable scope to study specific topics of interest to you. Students in the past have investigated topics as diverse as the aboriginal territorial protests in Australia, the war on terrorism, US immigration policy and the power of global corporations.
The strength of our degree at the University of Exeter is the way in which we encourage you to get to the heart of how and why things happen. We use theory as a means to understand the big picture but also to investigate specific events such as the reemergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan; US intervention in Iraq; peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Bosnia; and the inability of the UN to prevent genocide in Rwanda.
Innovative teaching
We will encourage you to put yourself in the position of the policy makers and politicians who shaped events like these and to ask yourself if, armed with the same information and choices, whether you would make the same decisions. You may also get the chance hear first-hand accounts from the politicians, military commanders, aid workers, journalists and activists involved. Recent contributors have included an aid worker from Rwanda; ex-special forces soldier who served in Afghanistan; politicians such as David Milliband MP; the Head of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan; and a BBC journalist now turned documentary-maker.
Depending on the modules you choose, you may have the opportunity to take part in field trips e.g. to London to meet figures from government organisations or aid agencies. In the past, students taking modules on the Middle East have travelled on study trips to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Our active student societies also regularly organise events such as trips to Brussels to visit NATO and European Union institutions.
With a keen focus on contemporary issues, our teaching is informed by up to the minute thinking and research. You’ll draw on sources such as the latest think tank reports and policy texts and will be taught by academics whose opinions are sought by the media to give expert insight on current events happening around the world. You will also use film and video footage to understand how fiction and documentaries give us insight not just to events themselves, but how society seeks to interpret them.
Developing your career
While this is a challenging theory-based degree, which attracts high quality students hoping to go on to PhD study, it is also relevant to a wide range of careers. Many of our students are working professionals in governments around the world, non-governmental organisations, aid agencies and pressure groups, so our seminars are informed by a range of perspectives making for a rewarding and exciting study environment. Current students come from Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, South America, the US, Canada and the UK.
Students go on to careers in aid agencies; NGOs in the UK and overseas; government bodies such as the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office; the Diplomatic Service; and international organisations including EU institutions and the United Nations.
