Law and Politics of International Security

The core course on Theories and Approaches to War and Collective Security is about the transformation of war as a legal concept as well as a political reality. You’ll start with Medieval just war theories, moving through to the collective security system of the United Nations. You’ll learn about the Security Council, peacekeeping operations, private security companies, regional organisations and self-defence by states.  

The Security Studies course discusses the potential and limits of competing theoretical approaches to international security. You’ll become familiar with specific problems such as (counter) terrorism, new forms of warfare, new technologies of war, surveillance, migration and private security.

The International Humanitarian Law course covers the laws that apply in times of armed conflict, and the ways in which these are framed in academic, legal and policy debates. This includes targeting and protection of civilians, the law of military occupation, humanitarian aid in conflict, and environmental protection in war. You’ll hear from a former student who worked for the Red Cross in Palestine about how the law matters on a daily basis in areas of conflict.

The final core course is about the Politics of International Law, which looks at the different ways in which law and politics interact. The course devotes special attention to the political role and ethical dilemmas of legal advisors, while taking postcolonial perspectives into account. For example: when we look at humanitarian intervention from a postcolonial perspective, how does that help in understanding the invasion in Iraq?

In addition to these core courses, you’ll take two electives out of a choice of eight, including topics like international criminal courts and tribunals, terrorism and security, and the philosophy of international law and migration. For students who don’t have a background in International Relations Theory or Public International Law, we strongly recommend you to choose these two courses as electives.

Last but not least, your Master’s thesis starts with a thesis market in November at which faculty staff present their research. You’ll propose your own thesis topics, and you’ll then work on the selected topics in small groups, presenting your research via a series of ongoing meetings.