International Relations and Modern History with a Year Abroad

International relations and modern history is a combination that gives you two complementary ways of understanding how the world came to be as it is. International relations provides the analytical frameworks for understanding how states and other actors interact: through diplomacy, alliances, trade, conflict, international law, and global institutions. Modern history provides the evidence and methods to trace how those interactions have unfolded over time, grounding theoretical understanding in the specific events, contingencies, and decisions that shaped the international order.

This four-year full-time programme at the University of East Anglia includes a year abroad, which places you in a partner institution in another country for an extended period. The experience of studying in a different national academic context, and of navigating the practical realities of living abroad, adds a dimension of international formation to a degree that is already intellectually concerned with cross-national dynamics. With a typical tariff of 120 points, the programme attracts students who are curious about the world and motivated by the big questions the subject addresses.

At UEA you will develop a rigorous understanding of how international relations has evolved since the seventeenth century alongside close engagement with the historical processes, conflicts, movements, and settlements that define modern history. You will read theory alongside evidence, debate interpretations, and write analytically about complex causal questions. The skills this develops, critical reading, careful use of evidence, and sustained written argument, are directly applicable in a wide range of professional contexts.

Graduates from international relations and modern history programmes work in the civil service, diplomatic service, international organisations, think tanks, journalism, policy analysis, non-governmental organisations, and a range of commercial roles where international awareness is valued. Some continue to postgraduate study in international relations, history, security studies, or related disciplines. The combination of analytical rigour and historical depth makes graduates adaptable and well prepared for careers in an interconnected world.