International Security and Law

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International conflicts have changed fundamentally over the past two decades. To understand them and to manage them requires new skills, which is why we offer this new Master programme.

In the old days the understanding and management of conflicts built on a fairly clear division of labor between specialists between diplomats, soldiers, and aid experts. Conflicts could be understood according to distinct phases, moving from peace to tension over war and stabilisation to renewed peace. For each phase a particular set of specialists went to work.

Todays conflicts are multiple, complex, and volatile. They may last for more than a decade. Signs of progress are often deceptive, and outsiders involved in managing the conflict can experience war, development, and peace enforcement all in one day. It is what the military calls a three block war. To grasp it, and to help organisations prepare for it, experts must look beyond specialisations and be trained to understand and work with complex and conflict ridden environments.

This Master of Social Sciences in International Security and Law will train this kind of expert. It will be experts who look to the international domain, who want to work with international issues, and who will want to help solve conflicts. The programme will provide the experts with the skills to integrate a conflicts political, juridical, and ethical dimensions in a comprehensive assessment that identifies the drivers of the conflict and what international organisations can do about them.

Career opportunities
Do you want to play a role and make a difference by analyzing, managing and solving conflicts of the 21st Century?

With a Master of Social Sciences in International Security and Law you will be primed for a career in organisations that are involved in analysing, managing, and solving conflicts. It can be private or public organisations, and it can be organisations that are purely analytical or more broadly engaged in all dimensions of conflicts.

* Civil servant in central ministerial organisations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Development Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, as well as emergency management agencies.
* International organisations such as the UN and its agencies, or the EU, NATO, the OSCE, or the World Bank.
* Non-governmental organisations such as the Red Cross and the International Crisis Group.
* Large private companies with interests in areas of conflict, typically in the domains of shipping and transportation or energy and resource extraction.
* Or as an advisor to policy-makers and practitioners who grapple with a particular conflict or crisis area (such as Haiti, Somalia, or Afghanistan) and who need to augment standing organisational capacities on a case-by-case basis.

The programme is a two-year full-time study programme amounting to a total of 120 ECTS. There are 6 core courses, 3 electives, and a thesis. All courses, core courses and electives, each represent 10 ECTS. The thesis represents 30 ECTS.

Core courses are offered jointly by the Department of Political Science and the Department of Law and they make up the first two semesters of the Masters four semesters in total. The core courses of the first semester are open to students of this programme only.

All courses of the second and third semester will be oriented towards practical analytical skills, combining background knowledge of the big debates in terms of theory and world developments with the ability to bring this knowledge to bear in the assessment of specific conflicts. It will be a trademark of the programme to have students connect big ideas and concrete events.

Another trademark will be the integrated focus on politics, law, and ethics. Some courses focus mainly on one dimension, especially first semester courses, but second and third semester courses must relate their core topic (politics, law, or ethics) to the wider and combined context.

There are good opportunities for studying abroad, either in the third semester where the student can follow courses at another university of his/her choice or replace one elective course with a traineeship, or in the fourth semester where the thesis can be written abroad and under long distance supervision from the University of Southern Denmark advisor.

You will be attracted to this programme if:

* You take an interest in international affairs, in particular in security and development issues.
* You are aware of the many links between domestic and international issues and would like to work in the interface between the two.
* You would like to be an international expert with a multidisciplinary edge.
* You believe that conflicts have distinct political, juridical, and ethical dimensions that must be grasped for conflict understanding and resolution to happen.
* You plan on having an international career in a world marked by tensions between the good of globalisation and the bad of intractable and dynamic conflicts.
* You would like to take part in a programme that offers you a flexible menu of choice in terms of focusing on international politics, law, or ethics in the course of your studies because this menu is built into the courses offered over the two years.
* You believe that theory and practice should meet, and that university studies should be attuned to providing the kind of analytical skill that can be made operational in other environments.
* You would like to be part of a dynamic research environment where the study of politics and law has deep roots and strong departments to support them.
* You would like to be part of an international study programme that mixes Danish and international students and where staff and administration look forward to interacting with students of diverse background and outlook.
* You would like to study in a city that is centrally located, affordable, and which offers a wide range of activities and opportunities for students.

To become accepted for the Master programme in International Security and Law, you should have received a relevant bachelors degree, or have gained other e.g. professional equivalent experience of relevance to the programme.Directly qualifying bachelor degrees * Social Science degrees, e.g. Law, Political and/or Social Science, International Law, International Relations, Sociology or Market and Management Anthropology* * History * Area Studies * Journalism*Students with MMA background must take the following three courses in the first semester of International Security and Law: * Introduction to International relations * Introduction to International Law * International Order since 1815 or History of the Law of NationsOther qualifying competencesIf you have another bachelors degree from the Humanities deemed to be of relevance by the Study Board, you can also be accepted for the programme. Relevant educational experience entails that you have passed courses in your bachelors programme within the fields of: * law * International relations * Conflict studieseither within area studies or in a broader theoretical perspective.If you do not have a bachelors degree from a university, but have gained equivalent e.g. professional experience of relevance to the programme, you can also apply (e.g. military officers, applicants with international aid work experience or experience from the central administration or similar). Relevant professional experience entails that you, e.g. * have had extensive experience with international relations * have had extensive experience with international conflict management * in other ways through your professional employment have acquired knowledge and qualifications that will contribute to the progression of the Master programmeIf you apply to the programme without a directly qualifying bachelors degree, the Study Board will assess your application individually.Language requirementsApplicants must provide documentation of proficiency in English English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 575 TOEFL iBT® test: 88