International Relations (MSc)
Introduction
The MSc in International Relations offers you the opportunity to study the full range of complex contemporary challenges facing states and the international community. Explore the world’s most pressing political problems including war, peace and security, human rights, foreign policy, development, and globalisation.
This course has both January and September start dates. Apply Now.
The MSc International Relations is also available to study online.
The disciplinary landscape of International Relations (IR) has expanded considerably in the early twenty-first century, with a number of new challenges confronting a now outmoded global architecture of power. International Relations' traditional concern with war, security and diplomacy have been called into question by the end of the Cold War and the War On Terror and have been further complicated by far-reaching epistemological and methodological shifts in social theory.
Debates about the nature of globalisation, international institutions, development/post-development, global political economy, culture and identity, citizenship and rights bear prominently on efforts to understand the ebb and flow of contemporary IR. In theory and practice, understanding the modalities of power in constituting the ‘international,’ as well as challenges to hegemonic stabilisations of it, has gained a particular urgency, making the study of IR central to apprehending the complexity of global social life.
The MSc in International Relations provides you with a sustained engagement with key issues in contemporary international relations including development & political economy, critical & human security, globalisation, gender, identity, human rights and governance.
Along with building a foundation on the conceptual/theoretical underpinnings of international relations, you have the opportunity to choose from a range of courses, allowing for specialised study on a particular theme or region. You will develop the in-depth analytical and research skills to enable consultancy on behalf of a range of international organisations.
We also offer a distinct and interdisciplinary pathway in International Relations and International Law that combines the study of global politics, diplomacy, security, and conflict with training in international law and human rights and prepares you for careers in areas such as international organisations, human rights, and transitional justice and security.
Available Programmes of Study
- MSc
-
International Relations
- Qualification
- MSc
- Duration
- 12 months or 24 months
- Learning Mode
- On Campus Learning
- Study Mode
- Full Time or Part Time
- Start Month
- September
- Qualification
- MSc
- Duration
- 12 months or 24 months
- Learning Mode
- On Campus Learning
- Study Mode
- Full Time or Part Time
- Start Month
- January
Programme Fees
- UK
-
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year
- £11,100
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)
- £7,000
-
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
- EU / International students
-
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year
- £23,000
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)
- £15,000
-
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.
Stage 1
Stage 1: Compulsory Courses
- Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)
-
This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.
Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.
Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
Stage 1: Optional Courses
Students may choose 60 credit points from the following:
- PI5520 Terrorism and Counter Terrorism (30 credit points)
- PI5521 Chinese Security Issues (30 credit points)
- PI5535 US Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (30 credit points)
- PI5541 Political Psychology of Climate Change (30 credit points)
- SL5513 Advanced Quantitative Analysis in Social Science (30 credit points)
- SO5512 Dimensions of Globalisation (30 credit points)
- SO5519 Sex, Gender, Violence: Critical Approaches (30 credit points)
- SO5529 Peace and Conflict Studies (30 credit points)
If you are following the International Relations and International Law pathway, you must select at least one course from the following:
- LS5590 International Human Rights Law (30 credit points)
- LS5549 The Use of Force in International Law (30 credit points)
- LS553Q Watercourses Law and Policy (30 credit points)
- Terrorism and Counter - Terrorism (PI5520)
-
30 Credit Points
International terrorism and counterterrorism dominate both contemporary scholarly debates in International Relations (IR) and policy discussions. This course examines these debates by focusing, on the one hand, on the (individual and/or structural) causes and different manifestations of terrorism and, on the other hand, on debates on how to respond to terrorism not only effectively but also without violating humanitarian principles and international law. Overall, the course aims to provide students with an overview of current research on international terrorism and counterterrorism in IR and its neighbouring disciplines and to enable them to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of core aspects of the issue.
- Chinese Security Issues (PI5521)
-
30 Credit Points
The focus of this module is the key approaches, institutions, and contemporary issues in global security relating to the rise of China. Set in the context of broader global security issues, this module offers students an introduction to Chinese security policy and approaches to international relations. It lifts the vale on a very misunderstood, controversial, and increasingly critical feature of global security and world affairs. It will explore debates on China's rise, China's growing involvement in international politics, and global security.
- Advanced Quantitative Analysis in Social Science (SL5513)
-
30 Credit Points
This course familiarises students with quantitative research techniques commonly used in the social sciences. It begins by covering the basic concepts underlying quantitative methods and the fundamental statistical techniques used for analysing relationships between two variables. The main part of the course focuses on multiple regression analysis, perhaps the most widely used technique in quantitative social science research. Students gain practical knowledge by undertaking two research reports to assess a substantive topic of their choosing.
- Dimensions of Globalization (SO5512)
-
30 Credit Points
This interdisciplinary course focuses on substantive dimensions of globalization by considering recent changes occurring in the economic, political, social, and cultural realms of society. These themes are analysed by considering recent empirical studies, which seek to clarify our theoretical understanding of globalization through advanced social scientific research. The substantive themes covered include global capitalism, the global division of labour, global governance, the changing role of the nation state, transnational social change, and cultural homogenization and heterogenization. Interconnections between these aspects of globalization are highlighted.
- Sex, Gender, Violence: Critical Approaches (SO5519)
-
30 Credit Points
This course investigates the ways people think about, understand, and respond to violence. How do we know what counts as violence or a violence act? Why does legislation against violence often seem inadequate, perhaps especially in the case of gendered and sexual violence?
- Peace and Conflict Studies (SO5529)
-
30 Credit Points
This course provides students with a review of some of the central concepts and processes central to conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding. As such, the course is designed both to introduce the theoretical foundations of particular approaches to conflict resolution (or “peacemaking”) and peacebuilding, and to describe how those theoretical underpinnings give rise to specific mechanisms or processes within given contexts. In the area of peacemaking the course will cover topics such as negotiation, mediation, and intergroup dialogue processes, while in the area of peacebuilding the course will discuss more recent innovations such as Truth-Telling mechanisms, Criminal Tribunals, and both individual and collective reparations programmes. The course is particularly designed to inspire students to consider the complicated nature of both peacemaking and peacebuilding through a number of different case studies and perspectives.
- US Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (PI5535)
-
30 Credit Points
As a global superpower, how the US conducts itself in international affairs is both incredibly visible and has become a standard by which to judge successes and failures in this realm. By examining the development of US Foreign Policy through specific eras we can begin to judge the impact and effectiveness of their diplomatic practices.
- The Political Psychology of Climate Change (PI5541)
-
30 Credit Points
This course investigates issues at the intersection of politics, psychology, and climate change. It aims to develop the knowledge and skills of student to apply a political psychological analysis to global climate politics. It considers factors such as how personality, beliefs, perceptions, emotions, and identity impacts environmental issues.
- International Human Rights Law (LS5590)
-
30 Credit Points
The course was designed to help students build competence in dealing with the doctrinal issues about international human rights. It involves understanding the place of human rights in public international law, finding one’s way around the foundational human rights documents and the jurisprudence of human rights bodies. The course delivery puts heavy emphasis on classroom discussion on the controversial issues on contemporary human rights law that shape doctrinal development in this field: the justifiability of torture, the limits of freedom of religion, the justiciability of social rights, etc.
- The use of Force in International Law (LS5549)
-
30 Credit Points
The course aims to develop an in-depth and critical appreciation of current issues in the area of the use of armed force in International Law. The course is of interest to students who want to understand the legal considerations which frame contemporary conflicts.
The course will first analyse the fundamental principle of the prohibition on the use of force between States. It will then examine the current exceptions to this principle (e.g., right to self-defence, authorisation to use force given by the United Nations Security Council); further, what types of arguments States tend to use to justify the resort to force. Consequently, the course will study the most recent military interventions on the international plane (e.g., in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza and Iran). Teaching will be principally delivered through discussion-based seminars.
- International Watercourses Law and Policy (LS553Q)
-
30 Credit Points
There are at least 264 transboundary watercourses in the world. 40 percent of the world’s population depends on them for freshwater needs. Population growth, unfair share and lack of conservation measures, amongst other factors, have led to fierce competition over such resources among states and their communities. The Course explores the normative and policy issues relating to shared transboundary watercourses among states from the perspectives of international watercourses law (IWL), water politics and policies, and to some extent, geosciences. Focusing on the legal aspects of the subject, the course explores relevant theories, the key principles of IWL as enshrined in the UN Watercourses Convention 1997, contemporary issues such as ‘benefit sharing’, ‘the water-energy-food nexus’ and the ‘SDGs’, in light of specific case studies of transboundary watercourses such as the Nile and the Mekong.
Stage 2
Stage 2: Compulsory Courses
- Dissertation in International Relations (IR5901)
-
60 Credit Points
This is a compulsory element on the MSc International Relations programme.
Stage 3
Stage 3: Compulsory Courses
- Theories and Concepts in International Relations (IR5001)
-
30 Credit Points
This course lays the foundations for, explores, and critically analyses the main theoretical paradigms and debates in International Relations, and engages with the complexity of debates on concepts in IR. The theoretical topics to be covered include debates on the international system, cooperation, world order, conflict, development, representation and identity. Students will also be introduced to some of the main debates in epistemology and methodology that apply to the discipline.
Stage 3: Optional Courses
Students will select one of the following electives:
- IR5007 International Political Economy (30 credit points)
SL5011 Advanced Qualitative Methods in Social Science (30 credit points)
PI5027 Religion, Conflict and Security (30 credit points)
PI5034 International Diplomacy Theory and Practice (30 credit points)
All students on the International Relations and International Law pathway take the following courses:
- LS501T Critical Legal Thinking and Scholarship (0 credit points)
- LS503X Foundations of International Law (0 credit points)
- IR5001 Theories and Concepts in International Relations (30 credit points)
- LS501U International Law: A Time of Challenges (30 credit points)
- International Political Economy: Theories and Themes (IR5007)
-
30 Credit Points
Introduces students to the key theories and themes in the disciplinary study of International Political Economy. Topics covered include global inequality and wealth distribution; financialization and crisis; precarization of work; global regulation of trade, labour, and money; gender, and the environment in the international political economy.
- Advanced Qualitative Methods in Social Science (SL5011)
-
30 Credit Points
Qualitative Sociology: Philosophy and Methods: This course introduces students to a range of methods used in qualitative social science research (such as participant observation, qualitative interviewing, focus groups, diaries, photography and film, and archived data sources). The emphasis will be on the research process, from project design to analysis and presentation, with methodological issues raised in the context of researchable questions. Issues of reliability, representativeness and validity, and the potential for combining methods will be addressed. Students use the course work to develop their research interests and reflect on their research practices.
- Religion, Conflict and Security (PI5027)
-
30 Credit Points
Since the end of the Cold War the world has seen a resurgence of religious movements in the public sphere and, particularly since 9/11, religion has increasingly been viewed in policy debates as an issue of domestic and international security. In the ever increasingly globalized era, religious identifications criss-cross national boundaries and identities posing a dilemma for the established norms of the secular nation-state, political theory and actors. This course will examine some of the emerging theories associated with the rise of political religion, and the potential for conflict and peace that emerge. Utilizing diverse case studies ranging from religious Zionism, to political Islam to national Hindu movements the course will critique and employ contemporary theoretical frameworks to gain understanding of the current phenomena of religion in the international political domain.
- Critical Legal Thinking and Scholarship (LS501T)
-
This course provides students from diverse legal and educational backgrounds with a common understanding of the core research, analytical, and writing skills which will be required for LLM-Taught courses. The course is delivered as a series of five interactive lectures with two individual assessments designed to encourage critical thinking and provide opportunities for early feedback. It also incorporates a library workshop to provide students with hands-on experience with the resources available for course and dissertation work.
- Foundations of International Law (LS503X)
-
The course introduces students to the basics of International Law. It will describe the international legal system, the sources of International Law and the law of treaties.
- Theories and Concepts in International Relations (IR5001)
-
30 Credit Points
This course lays the foundations for, explores, and critically analyses the main theoretical paradigms and debates in International Relations, and engages with the complexity of debates on concepts in IR. The theoretical topics to be covered include debates on the international system, cooperation, world order, conflict, development, representation and identity. Students will also be introduced to some of the main debates in epistemology and methodology that apply to the discipline.
- International Law: A Time of Challenges (LS501U)
-
30 Credit Points
The course analyses recent developments in international law. It first considers the sources of international law. The question is then asked whether traditional international law can regulate pressing issues on the international plane. Examples of these problems are international terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation, ethnic conflicts, and climate change. The course encourages the student to think creatively as an international lawyer to resolve contemporary international challenges. Teaching will be principally delivered through discussion-based seminars.
Programme Fees
- UK
-
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year
- £11,100
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (University of Aberdeen Graduates *)
- £7,000
-
University of Aberdeen graduates are eligible for the Alumni Postgraduate Scholarship, reducing tuition fees to £7,000 - matching the current SAAS tuition loan - See full terms and conditions
- EU / International students
-
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year
- £23,000
- Tuition Fees for 2026/27 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *)
- £15,000
-
The above fee includes the £8,000 Aberdeen Global Scholarship provided to self-funded international students. Full terms and conditions apply.
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page. In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips.
Fee Information
Scholarships
All eligible self-funded international Postgraduate Masters students will receive an £8,000 scholarship. Learn more about this Aberdeen Global Scholarship here.
To see our full range of scholarships, visit our Funding Database.
How You'll Study
Teaching includes a range of interactive methods and approaches to learning in order to enhance students’ critical thinking, presentation and interpersonal skills.
The aim of the programme is to provide a nuanced understanding of key concepts and paradigms that structure the disciplinary study of International Relations and the theoretical and analytical tools to engage debates about them.
Several areas of thematic and regional specialisation that reflect their research and professional interests. For each area, students develop the relevant empirical and theoretical knowledge and understanding to produce in-depth analysis of complex problems. Taken together, these area choices provide students with an understanding of the multifaceted nature of contemporary International Relations.
Postgraduate-level skills of intellectual and professional relevance including: research skills, organisation and structure, critical evaluation of sources and arguments, logic of argumentation, independent study and judgement, and written and oral communication.
Learning Methods
- Individual Projects
- Lectures
- Research
- Seminars
- Tutorials
Assessment Methods
By coursework, written examination, or a combination thereof, as prescribed for each course and by submission of a dissertation. The degree of MSc shall not be awarded to a candidate who fails to achieve a CGS grade of D3 mark of 9 or above in IR5901, irrespective of their performance in other courses.
Why Study International Relations?
- You are taught by published researchers and international relations consultants at University of Aberdeen, providing the latest research and innovation in the subject. A summary of the many research projects currently underway within the Department of Politics and International Relations can be found on the Department’s webpage
- The University of Aberdeen is home to several research centres and institutes, including the Centre for Global Development; the Centre for Global Security and Governance; the Institute for Conflict, Transition, and Peace Research; and more
- An MSc International Relations provides you with the skills and knowledge needed to pursue a wide range of professions, or to continue research on numerous topics
- The department offers expertise in the Middle-East, Latin America, North and South Asia, the Nordic Countries, Central and Eastern Europe as well as Scotland, the UK and the EU.
Interested in this programme?
Entry Requirements
Prospective students requiring a visa to study in the UK are advised to apply as early as possible to secure a place.
Qualifications
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
Applicants for admission will normally be expected to hold a relevant Honours degree with a 2:2 standard from a recognised university or body.
Applicants without this qualification may be admitted subject to having an alternative qualification, or an approved level of work experience appropriate to the field of study. Also taken into careful consideration is the trajectory of results, an applicant without an overall 2.2 but with 2.2 results in their final two years of study may be admitted.
Please enter your country or territory to view relevant entry requirements.
English Language Requirements
To study for a Postgraduate Taught degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 6.0; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 90 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 21; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 62 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 176 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 169; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
Document Requirements
You will be required to supply the following documentation with your application as proof you meet the entry requirements of this degree programme. If you have not yet completed your current programme of study, then you can still apply and you can provide your Degree Certificate at a later date.
- Degree Certificate
- a degree certificate showing your qualifications
- Degree Transcript
- a full transcript showing all the subjects you studied and the marks you have achieved in your degree(s) (original & official English translation)
- Personal Statement
- a detailed personal statement explaining your motivation for this particular programme
- Reference x 2
- two reference letters, one of which should be from your university discussing your academic ability. If you have been out of education for a long time you may wish to use your current or most recent employers, or other professional individuals
Careers
Careers relating to International Relations involve public sector research and policy-making in foreign affairs, defence, development and human rights.
Many graduates now choose to do public advocacy, research, and project management work for non-governmental organisations (NGOS), and regional and global institutions such as the European Union or the United Nations. Graduates also forge careers in the international media, the armed forces, international risk management, and international corporations involved in trade and finance.
An MSc qualification in International Relations will be an important asset to you if you already hold an undergraduate degree in IR, given the increasing demands for postgraduate qualifications in the job market. In addition, graduates from cognate disciplines can use this route to change their career path, or improve their qualifications within the framework of an existing career.
Career Opportunities
- Civil Servant
- Diplomat
- Energy Policy Consultant
- Government Official
- Journalist
- Junior Lecturer
- NGO Worker (Charity Worker)
- Police Officer
- Policy Advisor
What our Alumni Say
Our Experts
- Programme Coordinator
- Dr Ritu Vij
Information About Staff Changes
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
Facilities
The University of Aberdeen is the home of several research centres and institutes.
Get in Touch
Contact Details
- Address
-
Student Recruitment & Admissions
University of Aberdeen
University Office
Regent Walk
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX