Foreign Policy Analysis (932M1)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

What is foreign policy and what is 'foreign' about it? Does foreign policy still matter in an age of globalization? Who acts in foreign policy, for what purpose and in whose name? In this module we will analyse foreign policy as a crucial political site of agency and choice in today's international relations. The module will draw on classical and critical foreign policy analysis literature to locate the study of foreign policy firmly within the domain of international relations and redefine its political, strategic and normative boundaries. The theoretical study of how and why foreign policy is made will be complemented with an analysis of historical and contemporary foreign policy case studies and an in-class practical simulation exercise.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.