MSc International Relations and Diplomacy

You attend a wide range of courses, develop your analytical and research skills, take on an internship, write your master’s thesis, and build your network with experts in relevant fields. Upon graduation you are prepared to take on positions in international organisations, politics, and diplomacy; or for PhD research.

What does this master’s programme entail?

The two-year Advanced MSc International Relations and Diplomacy programme offers you a unique blend of academic education in international relations and political science with practical graduate education and training in international negotiation and diplomacy. The programme is taught jointly by Leiden University’s Institute for Security and Global Affairs, the Institute of Political Science and the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

The location of The Hague is beneficial for this master’s programme in terms of substantive focus and the various links to international institutions located in this city. As one of the partners, Clingendael’s objective is to promote the understanding of international affairs, and the institute devotes special attention to European co-operation, international security, and diplomacy.

In the current era of global interdependence, collaborative efforts are needed to meet the most pressing challenges in international politics, security and economics. Increased transnational channels of communication, global trade and capital flows characterise an increasingly interconnected world of both nation states and non-state actors. The resulting challenges to global governance can be met most effectively by patterns of international and transnational co-operation and diplomacy.

Choose International Relations and Diplomacy at Leiden University:

• You gain broad multidisciplinary perspectives in the programme, which is taught jointly by the Institute for Security and Global Affairs, the Institute of Political Science and the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.
• You study in The Hague, centre of international diplomacy and ‘international city of peace and justice’.
• The strong academic orientation of the programme and its professors is balanced by the practice-oriented insights of guest lecturers working in the field.