Politics and International Relations

Politics and international relations together examine the twin questions of how power operates within states and how it is exercised between them. Politics asks how governments are formed and held to account, how ideologies and institutions shape policy, and what democracy demands of its citizens. International relations asks why states cooperate and conflict, what international organisations achieve, and how issues from terrorism and nuclear weapons to migration and climate change play out across borders.

Studied together, they give you analytical frameworks for understanding the world at multiple scales, from local governance to global governance.

At Queen Mary University of London you will follow a four-year programme, spending your time engaging with both empirical analysis and political theory. You will examine contemporary debates about economic inequality, democratic backsliding, immigration, security and international order, not as headlines but as problems requiring systematic and rigorous analysis. The programme develops your capacity for careful argument, your ability to read complex material and assess competing claims, and your skills in written communication, all of which are valued across a wide range of careers.

The issues you study are not abstract: terrorism, rising discontent with democratic institutions, immigration policy and economic inequality are shaping political landscapes across the world, and graduates who understand the deep structures behind those phenomena are well placed to contribute to solving them. Careers for politics and international relations graduates span the civil service, diplomacy, political and international organisations, public affairs and lobbying, journalism and broadcasting, policy research and think tanks, and the charitable and non-governmental sector. Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in politics, international relations, law, public policy or security studies, deepening their expertise in preparation for more specialised careers.