Page 2 of 2, 24 Part time MSc Programs in Political Science in London, United Kingdom for 2024

The SOAS MSc Politics of Asia fosters close analysis of politics in Asia—both South Asia and East Asia, with additional options covering Southeast Asia and Central Asia. How do globalization, nationalism, nuclear rivalry, and urban development affect political life in Asia? What drives the politics of ethnicity, religion, and gender? How should we understand the specific characteristics of politics (both formal and informal) in India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea, as well as Indonesia, Thailand, Turkmenistan, and many other countries in the region?

The MSc in Political Thought builds on SOAS’s wealth of regional expertise to offer a new approach to the study of political thought. It promotes the study of political theory as it is tightly linked to practices of global domination and resistance. The degree considers political theory as it emerges from and is linked to everyday political thinking, philosophical texts, or cultural production. Beyond the regions and traditions that have conventionally framed comparative work in political theory, this degree is unique in teaching students to see how concepts “travel” across the world as a means to examine both political thought and political practice in different times and spaces, with a focus on SOAS’s traditional regions: Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

SOAS is one of the few universities in the world to offer a Masters degree in the politics of Africa. There are many ‘African Studies’ degrees, but politics typically makes up only a part of their programmes. Our MSc Politics of Africa offers a wide range of modules in which students learn about historical and contemporary periods of African politics, as well as debates informed by the major sub-disciplines of politics: international relations, comparative politics and political theory. We also use our knowledge of Africa to talk back to the discipline and to show that African politics is not in any sense marginal but has a strong influence on how we see and engage with the world.

The MSc Humanitarianism, Aid & Conflict builds on the strength of existing expertise in violence, conflict and global development within the Department of Development Studies and SOAS in general. The programme is designed to provide students with analytical training and an in-depth understanding of the challenges of contemporary humanitarian aid, its interaction with conflict and development and new directions in the field. The programme presents students with comprehensive knowledge of the history of the architecture of aid in humanitarian contexts, key local, regional and international actors, and engages with theoretical, conceptual and policy debates relating to the political and logistical challenges of the global responses to conflict, natural disasters and complex emergencies, the diverse range of critiques that have been made of it, emerging innovations, context-specific challenges and agendas from the Global South. In this unique programme is specifically designed to allow students to focus on and develop a wide-ranging knowledge of the field and the tools to critically engage with the pressing questions of power dynamics, politics, accountability, security and access that are facing the humanitarian organisations, academics and local communities today.

This is an online degree that engages critically with the history, politics and practice of humanitarian action. Students take the core module, followed by a selection of elective modules and a final dissertation.

Our postgraduate qualification in Intelligence and Security Studies is designed to help strengthen the international intelligence community. Addressing a wide range from the fundamentals through to in-depth topics, including analysis, financial crime, intelligence’s role in counter-terrorism, and historic success and failures of intelligence. Study via distance learning to gain a comprehensive knowledge of intelligence’s importance in our ever-changing and dangerous world.

Our postgraduate course in Diplomacy and Security Studies is designed to equip students with an industry-specific toolkit of international relations and foreign policy, as applicable to security and counter-terrorism. This unique course allows you to apply diplomatic theory to current issues in global crime and gives you a practical toolkit to approach real-world scenarios. Students use an online classroom to learn alongside a global community, giving you first-hand experiences from other countries and organisations.

The programme assesses terrorism events and issues of the 20th and 21st centuries and analyses the increasing ‘securitisation’ of social life. It connects the conceptual basis of academic study to practical issues facing the international community and considers emerging terrorism threats and issues pertaining to counter-terrorism, law enforcement, government agencies and the private sector.

Analyse the concepts of security studies by developing your knowledge of broader military, strategic and political considerations. You will gain a solid academic grounding in criminology, terrorism and intelligence. The Security Studies programme will help you gain a solid academic grounding in criminology, terrorism and intelligence. This is combined with the practitioner experience of our teaching team, all of which will enable you to engage with institutions and individuals central to the wide area of security.