MSc in Defence, Development and Diplomacy

With conflicts becoming either increasingly drawn-out, asymmetric wars of attrition or normalize into states of no peace – no war, our understanding of conflict and conflict intervention is shifting. Conflicts are rarely determined by military victory, diplomacy or long-term development, but require securing populations through a comprehensive approach that sees to their political, and economic, as well as their security-related needs. Their outcome will be determined by how well the different arms of government and civil society, both locally and internationally, can work together and how well they understand each others' perspectives.

This inter-disciplinary and custom-designed MSc offers the unique opportunity to look at conflict, conflict intervention, and post-conflict reconstruction through the lenses of defense, development, and diplomacy.

The MSc is designed for graduates with a career in government, the armed forces, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs or academia in mind, and for practitioners looking to enhance their practical skills while placing these within a broader theoretical perspective.

Five core modules worth 75 credits plus a Dissertation worth 60 credits plus three optional modules to the value of 45 credits.

Core Modules

• Defense, Development, and Diplomacy in Conflict: Evolving Actors, Factors and Paradigms
• Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace
• Conflict Intervention: International Law, Counter-Insurgency and Conflict Diplomacy
• Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Stabilisation, Development, and State-Building
• Capstone Exercise: Humanitarian Intervention Simulation (in MSc-specific roles)
• Dissertation.

Optional Modules

Optional module in previous years have included:

• Religion, Culture, and Conflict
• Conflict Mediation
• Fieldtrip
• Conflict Sensitive Programme Management
• Re-thinking Counter-Terrorism
• Conflict Analysis
• Urban Violence - Urban Peacebuilding
• International Negotiation as an Instrument in Conflict Management
• Defense Engagement 
• Policing Post-Conflict Cities.