This module will provide an advanced understanding of international security as a subfield of International Relations. The module will explore the meaning and use of security in international relations and engage with mainstream theoretical approaches of the discipline and newer conceptions of security, such as gender and post-colonial security. Students will apply these theoretical frameworks to a range of empirical case studies with a particular focus on the changing logic of security since the end of the Cold War. The module will examine security in relation to cooperation and conflict between states and interrogate a number of issue areas, including terrorism, intra-state violence and post-conflict peacebuilding, and energy security.

The participation grade encourages engaged and consistent learning. This builds up subject-knowledge as well as enhancing communication and analysis skills. You are expected to post a 500 word answer to the week’s set question. The participation grade is worked out on the number of these you do each week and how well you engage with the posts of others. The word-length for this assessment therefore depends on how much you engage. Five posts are required for a pass. Full marks can be achieved from a good 500 word post each week in addition to regular informed engagement with the posts of others. [Learning Outcomes 1 and 2]

The policy brief will require students to distil complex information into a short, well-structured document that can be absorbed by practitioners and policymakers. It aims to stimulate students to engage in an integrative approach between analysis, enquiry, knowledge, and problem-solving.

The essay is designed to enhance practical research skills (problem-solving and application). It will also require the application of a theoretical approach to an issue area of International Security (enquiry; knowledge and learning; analysis).

The main focus will be on self-instruction, within a tightly structured framework and relying largely (but not exclusively) on materials supplied. Week by week students will work through self-instructional course material (delivered via blackboard), which provides the framework and focus for reading key texts and papers and undertaking the specific tasks set. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis, but students will be expected to interact and share material and ideas with other students in their learning group and their tutor.

1. DEMONSTRATE A SYSTEMATIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE KEY THEORETICAL APPROACHES AND DEBATES OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY.

Knowledge and Learning

2. DEVELOP ANALYTICAL SKILLS THROUGH AN INDEPENDENT AND CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF CURRENT CASE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY.

Analysis, Enquiry, Problem Solving, Reflection

3. PROVIDE WELL-RESEARCHED AND DEVELOPED PIECES OF WORK IN APPROPRIATE ACADEMIC STYLE.
Application and Communication

Students’ own textbooks; supplied course packs of readings; e-books; e-journals; relevant websites.
Blackboard VLE
Computer with internet access

Alan Collins (ed) Contemporary Security Studies, (5th ed) OUP, 2019

Baylis, Wirtz, Cohen & Gray (eds) Strategy in the Contemporary World, (6th ed) OUP, 2018

Craig A Snyder (ed) Contemporary Security and Strategy (3rd ed), Palgrave, 2012.

Smith, M.E., 2017. International Security: Politics, Policy, Prospects 2nd edition. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire England; New York.

Williams, P.D. (ed), 2018. Security Studies: An Introduction, 3rd edition. Routledge, London; New York.