Postgraduate Modules in International Security

Concepts and Theories of International Security

• Core Module for MA International Security (40 CATS)
• Coordinator: Dr Oz Hassan 
• This module provides students with an introduction to academic debates about the meaning of security in international relations. It then outlines different theoretical approaches to the study of security. It concludes by introducing students to key ‘images’ of international security, from the ‘clash of civilisations’ to ‘risk society’. Ultimately, the module aims to provide students with conceptual and theoretical tools to enable the analysis of contemporary global security issues.

New Security Challenges

• Optional Module for MA International Security (40 CATS)
• Coordinator: Dr Chris Browning
• This module provides students with a critical understanding of a range of contemporary and emerging security issues. After introducing students to the debate about ‘broadening’ the security agenda, it proceeds to examine how we might make sense of a range of issues as ‘security’ issues. These range from the changing nature of war, the privatisation of security, terrorism, humanitarian interventionism and the changing role of the UN to environmental change, health, migration and the role of borders, culture and gender. These topics are given illustration in the associated Film Group screenings (details are available here).

Asia-Pacific Security

• Optional Module for MA International Security (40 CATS)
• Coordinators: Dr Chris Hughes
• This module provides students with a comprehensive overview of key security dynamics, actors and issues in the Asia-Pacific. After introducing students to key theoretical approaches to security and their application to the region, the module looks at a range of issues and those actors attempting to address them. Among the issues/ dynamics addressed are Japanese militarization, SE Asian regional security cooperation, insurgency and ethnic conflict in the region, and tension over North Korea, the South China Sea and Taiwan. It also addresses the broader security agenda by looking at issues such as human rights and environmental change in the region.

European Security

• Optional Module for MA International Security (40 CATS)
• Coordinator: Dr Antony Field
• This module provides a comprehensive overview of the key security issues facing Europe and of the development of Europe’s security architecture. It outlines different ways of making sense of European security dynamics in theory, before dealing with key institutions (such as the EU, NATO and the OSCE), actors (such as France, Germany, UK, Russia and the US) and key issues/ dynamics in the region (such as EU enlargement, conflict in Chechnya and the Balkans, and issues of migration and environmental change). This module is also offered in the International Relations of Europe MA programme.

Humanitarianism and Security

• Optional Module for MA International Security; Core Module for MA Humanitarianism and Security (40 CATS)
• Coordinator: Professor Hazel Smith

• The module will introduce students to the theory and practice of international humanitarianism in the context of global, human, national and international security challenges. It will encourage a critical understanding of the institutions and processes of policy-making within the international humanitarian system. The module will focus on the multidimensional nature of humanitarian emergencies. It will also facilitate understanding of the ethics of international humanitarianism and convey knowledge of basic humanitarian operational skills. 

Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency, Term 1

• Optional Module for MA International Security (20 CATS)
• Coordinator: Professor Richard Aldrich
• This module is located in the realm of strategic studies and is intended to offer students the conceptual tools to analyse conflict at the lower end of the spectrum. The module analyses the expansion of irregular warfare and its transformation from mere guerrilla activity into a sophisticated politico-military phenomenon. It also explores the response of developed states through case studies of counter-insurgency.

Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, Term 2

• Optional Module for MA International Security (20 CATS)
• Coordinator: Professor Richard Aldrich
• Like Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency, this module is located in the realm of strategic studies and is intended to offer students the conceptual tools to analyse conflict at the lower end of the spectrum. It examines the 'four waves' that characterise the development of modern terrorism. It critiques assertions about a transition from the 'ethno-political terrorism' of the 1970s and 1980s to the 'new terrorism' of the 1990s and beyond. It then explores responses to terrorism though case studies of counter-terrorism.

Undergraduate Modules in International Security

International Security 

• 2nd year Module
• Coordinator: Dr Chris Browning
• This module provides students with an introduction to security in international relations. The first half of the module deals with questions of warfare, strategy and organized violence. This ranges from definitions of war itself and an analysis of the causes of war, to a discussion of the changing nature of warfare in contemporary global politics. The second half of the module deals with security more broadly defined, engaging with debates about the meaning of security and a range of contemporary challenges (such as terrorism) and the possibilities for collective or cooperative action in responding to these ‘threats’.   

The Vigilant State: Intelligence & Security Services

• 3rd year Module
• Coordinator: Professor Richard Aldrich
• This module is intended to introduce the growing importance of the informational aspects of international security. It considers the means employed by states to gather information and to implement policy clandestinely. Particular attention is given to definitional problems, theories of the information cycle and problems of consumer-producer relations. Extended consideration is also given to issues of accountability and ethics. The perspective is mostly policy-focused and these issues are viewed as problems of statecraft, or else of constitutional control. 

Critical Security Studies

• 3rd year Module
• Coordinator: Dr Matt McDonald
• This module builds upon the 2nd year International Security module and develops themes around theoretical approaches to security and ‘new’ security challenges. After introducing students to a range of ways of thinking about security in international relations that move outside the traditional association of security with the preservation of the state, the module goes on to explore security dynamics in particular regions from these critical perspectives. It also looks at a range of issues that may be viewed as security issues, from immigration to environmental change, the role of religion and health. 

United States Foreign Policy

• 3^rd year Module
• Coordinator: Dr Trevor McCrisken
• This module analyses the foreign policy of the United States of America. The module introduces the main theoretical and conceptual debates concerning US foreign policy; focuses on the institutions and processes of US foreign and defence policy-making; analyses the individual, governmental, societal and external sources of US foreign policy; and offers opportunities for understanding and explaining the place of the US within the international system and its relationship with other states and non-state actors. Several contemporary issues and challenges facing the US in its foreign relations will be analysed including international terrorism, the Iraq War, the perceived threats from Iran and North Korea, the US role in globalisation, and the forms and consequences of anti-Americanism.

Britain and the War in Iraq

• 3rd year Module
• Coordinator: Dr Steven Kettell
• This module examines the key themes and issues surrounding Britain's role in the invasion of Iraq, as well as the various controversies that have emerged as a result. It aims to encourage critical thinking about the domestic and international implications and consequences of Britain's participation in the conflict. The first section deals with conceptual and theoretical approaches to understanding Britain's participation in the war. The second examines the development of New Labour's foreign policy in the run-up to the conflict. The third considers the postwar strategies deployed by New Labour officials to deal with the unfolding situations in Iraq and Britain. The fourth examines the broader implications and consequences of the decision to join the US-led invasion.