Whether your passion is global development, climate policy or human rights, this major equips you with the substantive knowledge, practical skills and real-world experience to help make a difference on a bigger scale.
The field of international affairs encompasses the study of global issues from a range of disciplines including political science, history, sociology and economics. Traditionally, it has focused on the relationships between states; however, as globalisation and terrorism have become increasingly important issues, the field of international affairs has expanded to include other entities such as non-governmental organisations, corporations and civil society groups.
A significant part of the discipline involves the use of force and conflict resolution. The study of these topics is often referred to as war studies or strategic studies. Another area of interest is the theory of international politics, which tries to explain how power is gained and used in the world.
In addition to the traditional level of analysis, there are also more abstract theories that try to explain why certain outcomes occur. A prominent example is democratic peace theory, which suggests that democracies will not go to war with each other as they share a set of values and norms.
Other theoretical approaches attempt to explain how and why the world works as it does through concepts like realism, liberalism, Marxism and dependency theory. Others, such as the constructivist theory of international relations, argue that the anarchic structure of international relations is socially constructed by different actors.