MA in Global Politics
Course Overview
The MA in Global Politics at LSLPE is a research-informed Master's programme running one year full-time or two years part-time across on-campus, online and distance routes. The syllabus treats global politics as the sum of national interest, international law and cross-border economics, and is aligned with UK senior-track expectations found in Whitehall, Chatham House and the wider Political Studies Association community.
By graduation you will have produced a structured global-affairs briefing pack, an original policy paper on a live diplomatic file, an argued position on a UN Security Council or G20 case, and a supervised dissertation. Assessment moves from evidence review, to argued positioning, to publication-standard writing suitable for a foreign ministry, a think tank or an international body.
Key Features
- Weekly seminar structure aligned with Political Studies Association (PSA) and British International Studies Association (BISA) reading lists.
- Case sessions modelled on Chatham House working groups and Institute for Government convenings.
- Guest sessions from serving foreign-policy advisers, parliamentary researchers and international-organisation officers.
- Supervised dissertation on a real global-politics file, defended in oral viva.
- Three parallel study modes so serving officers and progressor graduates share the same cohort.
- Careers-day access to chambers of commerce, embassies, think tanks and NGO panels each academic year.
What You Will Learn
- Framing a global-politics question with clear geographic scope, actor mapping and time horizon.
- Reading treaty text, communiques and UN resolutions against national position papers.
- Producing a Whitehall-style ministerial submission and a Chatham House-style working paper.
- Modelling great-power competition, middle-power hedging and regional bloc behaviour.
- Handling human-rights, climate and trade files as intersecting rather than separate portfolios.
- Running structured foresight exercises and red-team scenario workshops.
- Defending a research argument in oral viva in front of a mixed academic and practitioner panel.
- Publishing to the standard expected of a foreign-policy think tank or international organisation.
Who This Course Is For
- Graduates seeking a senior-track credential before diplomatic, civil-service or think-tank recruitment.
- Serving foreign-affairs, defence or development officers looking to update their analytical toolkit.
- Journalists, NGO staff and researchers moving into structured policy writing.
- International applicants from foreign ministries, embassies and international organisations.
- Portfolio-route applicants with five or more years of relevant senior experience.
Career Pathways
- Foreign Policy Adviser
- Diplomat and Political Officer
- International Relations Analyst
- Government Relations Manager
- Strategic Intelligence Analyst
- Parliamentary Researcher on foreign-affairs briefs
- Public Affairs Officer with an international remit
- Global Affairs Analyst at a think tank or international body
The LSLPE careers service curates introductions across Whitehall, embassies, the UN Association UK network, Chatham House and international NGOs, and refreshes curriculum alignment annually against Bar Standards Board, Political Studies Association and Royal Economic Society guidance.
Entry Requirements
- A UK Bachelor's degree (2:2 or above) or equivalent international qualification in politics, international relations, law, history or a related discipline.
- IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
- Applicants without a Bachelor's degree but with 5+ years of senior professional experience in foreign affairs, defence or development are considered on portfolio.
- One academic and one professional reference.
- A 500-word research proposal or professional practice statement identifying your proposed dissertation area in global politics.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE is a specialist division of Harold International College of London teaching in small, tutor-visible cohorts. Central London places Whitehall, Parliament, the Royal Courts of Justice, Chatham House and the LSE-adjacent think-tank ecosystem within a short tube ride of every seminar room, which matters for a subject where the primary sources are drafted a few stops away.
Every intake, on-campus or remote, joins the same weekly seminar structure with named programme-tutor support. Seminars are run in the case-room and select-committee tradition, evidence-led and argued in public, and the careers service connects students with employers across embassies, government departments, think tanks and international bodies.
Apply for MA in Global Politics
Applications for the MA in Global Politics are open now, with intakes calibrated to the UK academic year and rolling admissions for online and distance cohorts. Enrol on an LSLPE Master's programme and complete a supervised dissertation on a live diplomatic file. Enrol Now
