Content Official Master's Degree in International Relations, Security and Development

Study guides

Master description

The master's degree in International Relations, Security and Development comprises 60 ECTS credits to be taken in two semesters (30+30) over one academic year. Of these 60 ECTS, 30 correspond to compulsory modules, 20 to optional modules and 10 to the master's dissertation.
 
The master's degree has three specialisations:

• Security and Development. In today's world security and development, the two great public benefits that states are expected to provide, are directly related. Conflict, peace-building, and social and economic development are taking on a holistic global dimension that requires analyses to be multidisciplinary. To conduct this analysis, which is essential before taking action on the ground, there is a need for a deep understanding of the theoretical models and the most important practices in the field of security and development. Also needed is the ability to analyse the dynamics of conflict and those of cooperation in processes of negotiation or peace-building. The actors involved in these dynamics are also increasingly varied, which again requires a multidisciplinary dimension to be given to theories, tools and methodologies applied to analysis and practice. Within this specialisation students will be encouraged to compare case studies from various regions so as to learn to study and work within a variety of contexts.
• The European Union in the World. It is vital to understand the growing role of the EU in the post-Cold War world as an important political power (it already was an economic power) within the international system, and as a possible model for other states to follow (in a context of repositioning on the part of the United States and the emergence of new powers). For this reason it is necessary to analyse not only the UE's external security and defence policy (its "military" side), but also its role in several international organisations (United Nations, WTO, etc.) and its geostrategic actions in different parts of the world (Asia, Mediterranean, Latin America, etc.).
• Regional Studies. Given the current globalisation context we are living in, the analysis of international relations forces us to distinguish traits and dynamics that vary between different regions of the world. Today it is vital for experts in International Relations to operate in different contexts, so tools need to be supplied to help students learn independently. This specialisation covers regions that differ greatly between each other but are equally important for Catalonia and Spain's political, economic and social relations with the exterior, and so offer a wide range of characteristics and dynamics related to international relations in general and also to security and development.

Students' itinerary through the programme depends on which of these three specialisations they choose.
 
First semester:

• All students take a common module (Analysis in International Relations, Security and Development) for 15 ECTS.
• Thus, students of each specialisation take the compulsory module of the specialisation, also for 15 ECTS credits (Security and Development, Fundamental Principles of European Union External Action, Regionalism and International Relations).

Second semester:

• Students take two optional modules of 10 ECTS, each chosen from the offer of second semester modules, one of which can be the Work Placement module.
• They will also write the master's dissertation, which counts for 10 ECTS.

All students must choose one of the specialisations.

Course begins on

03/10/2022

Teaching timetable

Afternoons

Study plan structure

 

Type	Credits
Compulsory	15
Optional	35
Master Thesis	10
TOTAL	60

Specialisation in Security and Development

 

Module	Credits	Type
Analysis in International Relations, Security and Development	15	OB
Master's Dissertation	10	OB
Security and Development: Stages of Analysis and Intervention	15	OT*
Arab World: International Relations, Security and Governance	10	OT**
Dimensions of the European Union Foreign Action	10	OT**
Human Security	10	OT**
Policies and Strategies of Security and Development	10	OT**
Politics and Society in Eastern Asia	10	OT**
Professional Work Experience	10	OT**

* Specialization Compulsory
** Optional, you must take 20 credits

Specialisation in the European Union in the World

 

Module	Credits	Type
Analysis in International Relations, Security and Development	15	OB
Master's Dissertation	10	OB
Basics of the European Union Foreign Action	15	OT*
Arab World: International Relations, Security and Governance	10	OT**
Dimensions of the European Union Foreign Action	10	OT**
Human Security	10	OT**
Policies and Strategies of Security and Development	10	OT**
Politics and Society in Eastern Asia	10	OT**
Professional Work Experience	10	OT**

* Specialization Compulsory
** Optional, you must take 20 credits

Specialisation in Regional Studies

 

Module	Credits	Type
Analysis in International Relations, Security and Development	15	OB
Master's Dissertation	10	OB
Regionalism and International Relations	15	OT*
Arab World: International Relations, Security and Governance	10	OT**
Dimensions of the European Union Foreign Action	10	OT**
Human Security	10	OT**
Policies and Strategies of Security and Development	10	OT**
Politics and Society in Eastern Asia	10	OT**
Professional Work Experience	10	OT**

* Specialization Compulsory
** Optional, you must take 20 credits

OB: Compulsory
OT: Optional