Peace Studies and International Relations (Study Abroad

This module focuses on the international relations of one of the most influential actors in world politics: China. The module explores the key question of when and how China’s actions conform with – and diverge from – various international relations (IR) theories. In the module, you have the opportunity to gain a broad understanding of how China’s foreign policies are made, its relations with its neighbours in East Asia, with international organizations, and with other global powers including Britain. At the same time, you can gain a deeper, more concrete understanding of the uses and limitations of IR theory in explaining global politics.

This module focuses on the politics and international relations of the European Union. This includes a focus on the political systems of key EU member states (especially Germany, France and Poland) and the wider dynamics of European integration. The module will also offer an account of the activities of the various European institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg (Council, Commission, Parliament, Court of Justice).

The module will introduce you to International Political Economy (IPE): the study of the interaction of economics and politics at the international level. You will engage with central questions surrounding the global economy, such as the meaning and consequences of globalisation, the development of, and tensions within, international society, and the governance of international trade.

You will be introduced to contemporary theories of International Political Economy, such as realist, liberal, neo-Gramscian, and feminist accounts, and study some key issues examined by IPE scholars, such as the internationalisation of trade, global production and the growth of multinational corporations, inequality between and within countries, and environmental sustainability.

Topics will typically include:

• Mainstream IPE
• Critical IPE theories
• International trade and the WTO
• International production and MNCs
• Global financial crises
• Labour in the global economy
• Global poverty and inequality
• IPE and sustainable development

The module explores some of the main theoretical foundations to International Relations, including realism and neo-realism, liberalism, and social constructivism and critical IR. We also explore how complexity theory relates to these theories. The second section focuses on some of the major international events of the 20th and early 21st centuries and how these relate to and interact with the development of international relations theories. The final weeks of the module focus on key relevant topics and developments including issues such as international political economy, debates relating to human/environmental sustainability and the impact of climate change and the practicality of an ethical foreign policy.

This module provides amongst a range of other issues: a study of war, its causes and consequences; violence at personal and structural levels within society (especially racism); positive definitions of peace; and misperceptions and enemy images through the media.

The module investigates and examines theoretical and practical issues surrounding peace and violence within modern society. It also examines the conditions of peace and war, assessing the scope for conflict resolution, non-violence and reconciliation. The first term introduces the main approaches within Peace Studies, exploring the development of ideas in the field as they bear on the roots of violence and understandings of peace and peace-making. The second term applies this thinking to contemporary conflicts, focusing on policies of conflict prevention and conflict resolution.

The module is taught in a non-dogmatic and interdisciplinary manner, encouraging students to develop their own perspectives and conclusions following discussions and debates throughout the year.

This module examines the domestic and the external sphere of Russian politics. By the end of the module you will have had the chance to develop an understanding of some doctrines of Russian politics and its wide-ranging effects on Russia’s engagement with the EU, the US, NATO, countries in the former Soviet space and the Middle East. We assess Russia’s response to the Arab Spring and its engagement in the conflict in Syria.

The module introduces you to Russia, an actor which gained presence and influence over several issue areas and regions. In this module we aim to prepare you for more extensive analyses of conceptualising Russia as an actor in their future studies

This module's starting point is one of the fundamental questions that have dominated modern societies: how to reconcile the political and democratic demands of the masses, or the demos, with the requirements of a free and efficient market economy.

The module introduces students to the main political economy approaches to the state and raises some key issues regarding the state’s governance of the market economy, drawing from liberal and critical state theories of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and discerning their implications for understanding the main challenges facing the modern state today. The main themes you will scrutinise are:

1. The theoretical evolution of liberal and critical approaches to the state;
2. The relationship between the state and the economy,
3. The relationship between liberalism and democracy;
4. The state management of market and democratic imperatives.

This is a critical introduction to the underlying themes of development in the global South, such as debt, aid, inequality, migration; and how the state, the economy, national social movements and powerful external actors, including international NGOs, interact with each other. It begins by looking at how neoliberalism came to dominant development thinking and practice in institutions like the World Bank from the late 1970s onwards and its impact on development and then provides in-depth case studies of recent alternative development models in Latin America and Syria. This module helps to broaden your understanding of Politics and International Relations away from a Western focus on the UK, Europe and the US in preparation for third-year modules such as The Global Politics of Africa.

In your third year you will study at one of our international partner universities. This will help you to develop your global outlook, expand your professional network, and gain cultural and personal skills. It is also an opportunity to gain a different perspective on your major subject through studying the subject in another country.

You will choose specialist modules relating to your degree and also have the opportunity to study other modules from across the host university.

Places at overseas partners vary each year and have historically included Australia, USA, Canada, Europe and Asia.

During your degree you’ll spend a year as a registered student at one of our approved partner universities in North America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or Europe.

This module provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The module is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. We focus on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.

This module presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.

China's rise is commonly understood as a key factor that will shape future world order. In this seminar-based module students will become familiar with different approaches to understanding China's rise, and critically evaluate the opportunities and challenges this poses to both China and the surrounding world. In each seminar, students will consider a key issue in China's relation to the world from different perspectives.

Issues that will be explored include: the possibility of an alternative modernity; sources of party-state legitimacy; Chinese nationalism; the limits of Chinese identity; new tools of China's soft power; the Chinese school of International Relations theory; questions of territorial integrity; and Chinese ideas of world order and the China model. This module will thus offer students an opportunity to discuss familiar concepts like nationalism, democracy and modernity in the context of post-Mao era China. Students enhance their understanding of the complexity of issues in contemporary China, and critically examine conceptual tools of political analysis in the Chinese context.

Who killed John F. Kennedy? Did the moon landing really happen? Is Covid-19 caused by the erection of 5G network masts? Factual answers to such questions are easily accessible. And yet many people eschew documented facts in favour of conspiracy theories, which explain events and complex phenomena with reference to nefarious forces and alleged hidden machinations of powerful actors.

Such narratives are nothing new, but they used to be regarded mostly as a curiosity rather than a serious subject of research. Today communities of conspiracists are no longer considered so benign. As they thrive online, they attract increasing interest of scholars and policymakers, who study their digital influence, their links with political movements and their status as participants in democratic public spheres. This special subject introduces you to the developing body of research on the origins, spread and the political and social effects of conspiracy theories, including multidisciplinary work seeking to explain why people embrace conspiracies, what (if any) are the harms of such beliefs, what insights can we draw from the study of historical conspiracies (19th and 20th century) and what is the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and other political beliefs.

As the Middle East has long been [and still is] one of the most unstable regions in the world, and it is further bedevilled by strong authoritarian states and pervasive ethnic and sectarian violence, what explains this instability and ongoing tensions? By examining some of the key questions surrounding the study of Middle Eastern politics, this module aims to provide you with a critical perspective of the region’s politics. This module introduces you to an analysis of the history, politics, society, culture and religions of the Middle East with attention to major events in the region.

This module provides you with an opportunity to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests you, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. We encourage you to develop your research skills, and your ability to work at length under your own direction. You submit a 9,000 - 10,000 word dissertation by the end of the Lent term in your third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, typically there is an introductory talk in second year on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation

The aim of this module is to allow you to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of your choice, within the scope of your scheme of study. The topic will be formulated in dialogue with one or more external collaborator(s) and may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. You will have the opportunity to develop your employability and research skills, and your ability to work independently at length under your own direction with input from external and an academic supervisor. The external collaboration will give you the chance to enhance your ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate work done through the Richardson Institute Internship Programme, but you may also discuss other forms of collaboration with their supervisor. The completed dissertation is usually submitted at the start of Summer Term in the third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, typically there is an introductory talk in second year on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation.

The aim of this module is to allow you to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of your choice, within the scope of your scheme of study. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. You will have the opportunity to develop your employability and research skills, and your ability to work independently at length under your own direction with input from an academic supervisor. The fieldwork element will give you the chance to enhance your ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate a study trip typically organised by the University, via the Global Experience office, but you may also discuss other forms of field studies with your supervisor. The completed dissertation is usually submitted at the start of Summer Term in the third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, typically there is an introductory talk in second year on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation.

This module examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The module combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. In this module you are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the module is grounded in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.

This module is interdisciplinary in nature, in the sense that it includes several approaches to study the Society and Politics in Latin America. It is designed on thematic issues that bind all the 21 member nations of Latin America in one form or another.

The primary aim of this module is to introduce students to an understudied region in the world. This is done through introducing them to various themes in Latin American politics. This module is designed for students, who have already had some grounding in politics of development, conflict and peace, religion and culture and also aimed at those who wish to develop an area studies specialisation in their intellectual quest.

The module will introduce you to some of the most important challenges facing the governance of the contemporary global economic order. The main themes explored by the module are:

1. the nature of power in the global economy,
2. the role, scope and limits of states within the world market,
3. the relationship between nation states and other actors in the global economy such as financial markets and supranational organisations,
4. the governing dilemmas with which policy-makers are faced and the way they manifest themselves in specific policy areas and issues such as production, finance, climate and development.

In tackling these themes, the module will introduce students to different ways to study governance in the global economy and examine the most challenging issues of the global economy such as financialisation, climate change and the future of growth.

• Climate Governance
• Power and domination in the global economy

The module aims to provide you with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets of contemporary Asian conflicts and how international organisations such as the UN, and how Western and Asian governments have attempted to deal with these challenges in recent times. Conceptually, the module will examine the principles of state failure; terrorism, ‘New Wars’, the New Security Agenda, Islamism, nationalism and sub nationalism, international conflict prevention; peace keeping and global governance. Empirically, the module will focus on conflict zones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, the Indian northeast, Chinese Xinjiang and Tibet. Thus, the aim of this module is to provide you with an overview of the security of a region which is now of tremendous global importance.