MA INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Few issues can claim to be such a leading and ongoing preoccupation in global politics as international security. Our MA is designed to provide you with a thorough and in-depth understanding of the key theoretical and empirical   debates within the field. It is a particularly exciting moment to be studying this fast-changing subject. Our degree lets you get to grips with the classic topics in International Security, such as inter-state problems relating to the military, strategy, nuclear proliferation, foreign policy, and intelligence. However, our degree also encompasses much broader contemporary issues, questions, and approaches. For instance, you’ll study maybe the most pressing security issue for everyone, wherever they are on the planet: the climate crisis. Migration, terrorism and counterterrorism likewise raise ethical questions about life and death, and who has a right to safety, protection, and survival. These urgent issues are at the heart of our teaching as we prepare you for a future in international security. 

About

This course provides a comprehensive grounding in international security studies, focusing on developments since the end of the Cold War. International security issues arise within complex political, geopolitical, environmental, and social contexts, involving a broad range of state and non-state actors.  

The study of security in the contemporary global politics presents a series of challenging real-world emergencies, intellectual questions, and policy dilemmas. We will show you how to consider the complex causes of these contemporary security problems. Providing you with the analytical tools to assess these processes, this MA combines the study of the main international relations and international security theories with empirical analysis of contemporary security issues. And, importantly, you’ll find solutions to the type of challenges you might face in the real world through simulated exercises.  

Importantly, you will be able to tailor your learning by selecting optional modules, completing your degree with a dissertation which you’ll research and write independently on a subject of your choosing, with expert academic supervision.  

We are proud to be committed to decolonising the curriculum. Mainstream approaches to security studies can start with the assumption that it is the borders of the state that define the line between “us” and “them.” But these binaries are now called into question as products of global racial hierarchies, imperial and colonial legacies, and North-South inequities. This decolonised approach, we believe, is vital in a world undergoing important shifts. 

After the Course

An MA is an excellent way to set yourself apart from other graduates when it comes to securing a good job, and can also lead on to doctoral research. An understanding of international affairs is increasingly important in all kinds of careers, while our International Security programme will provide you with vital employability skills and many networking opportunities. 

Recent graduates from our School have taken jobs in business, teaching, research, journalism, and many international organisations, including the UN, EU and NATO. 

UEA Careers Services can provide employment advice, as well as helping you arrange internships and work placements. 

Career destinations

A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.

Our MA will prepare you for careers such as: 

• political/policy analyst  

• programme/development officer 

• risk analyst 

• advocacy/outreach officer 

• journalist 

• management positions in international organisations, NGOs, government, media, and academia