International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

The resolution of deep-rooted international conflict remains a challenge to the rapidly evolving field of international conflict resolution. This module responds to this challenge by providing students the opportunity to explore international conflict resolution methods such as mediation, negotiation, collaborative problem solving, and alternative dispute resolution. The approach is interdisciplinary and juxtaposes traditional approaches in conflict management with the scientific study of conflict and cooperation. Through a combination of lectures, seminars, role-plays, and practical exercises, students will develop essential negotiation and mediation skills while gaining a deeper understanding of conflict resolution processes. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to navigate complex negotiations and mediate disputes effectively in various professional settings.

Can protracted violent conflicts be prevented, and how are they brought to an end? Is it possible to deal with the root causes of conflict? How do the wider conflicts in the international system impact on local and regional conflicts, and under what circumstances are conflicts transformed? What post-conflict reforms are necessary to build sustainable peace? We will explore these questions with reference to theories of conflict resolution, comparative studies, and case studies. Focusing mainly on international and intra-state conflict, you will examine case studies from different regions to explore the diverse approaches to peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and the complex interactions between local, national, and international actors. Moreover, through seminars, workshops, and practical exercises, you will develop skills in conflict resolution and project management essential for effective peacebuilding practice. By the end of the module, you will be equipped with the knowledge, analytical tools, and practical skills to contribute meaningfully to peacebuilding initiatives in various conflict-affected contexts.

Asking questions about society is primary to the work of a social scientist. However, how we go about asking those questions is not straightforward. When planning reliable and generalisable research, many steps need to be taken to ensure robust results. This course provides students with the tools to do just that. The course introduces students to the logic and methods of social research, including the central topics in research design, understanding the methodological choices necessary when designing social research, and the realities of ensuring ethical research from the start. Throughout this process, students will be introduced to both the positivist and critical/interpretive debates behind social research. Additionally, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be covered. This will prepare students to design a research proposal, including selecting appropriate methods, formulating a research plan that covers data collection and analysis, and ultimately allowing them to successfully conduct their own research.

This module prepares you for, and includes, the dissertation. The dissertation builds upon the learning outcomes attained in the other modules of your MA course and is the principal assessed element of the course. It must be on a topic that falls within the subject matter of your MA course. The module helps you move through the various stages of researching and writing your dissertation, including presenting an outline of your project in a conference-style format.

In this module you will explore an advanced topic at the cutting edge of research. The module will invite you into the expertise and ongoing projects of the convening academic, situating you in key debates, foregrounding gaps in knowledge, and drawing out the most challenging problems confronting researchers. You will work closely with academic staff and will benefit from individual feedback in a small group setting. The module will develop your advanced critical and analytical skills, help you to understand the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge, and give you a unique insight into the research process.

Whenever we make a statement about international affairs and world politics, we rely on often implicit theoretical assumptions about power, interests, identities, norms, and how they relate to the behaviour of international actors. Whether we like it or not, we are ‘doomed’ to rely on theories.  Since we all use theoretical assumptions, we need to  make them explicit  - we need to justify and defend them. In this module you will engage key theories, concepts and debates in the discipline of international relations in order to develop an advanced understanding of key theoretical approaches, including liberalism, realism, international society approaches, Marxism, critical theory, poststructuralism, postcolonialism and feminism. You will be asked to think critically about the strengths and limitations of each theory, as well as the similarities and differences between them.You will learn to see theories as valuable tool for understanding, comparing, and evaluating different perspectives on international issues.

This course provides students with the understanding and skills necessary to apply research methods and carrying out research project. It engages directly with core ethical issues that you will meet in any job be it in research or not. The module adds to the skills you learn on other methods modules and will help you develop the skills to answer two sets of broader questions: First, it critically analyses central concepts such as truth, power, ethics, and uncertainty in social research. When addressing these issues, we will engage with how they are dealt with and approached in qualitative and quantitative research. In the module students You will engage actively with these issues and critically reflect upon their own views and how they apply them in their own research projects. We particularly discuss the difficulties of causal inference and generalisation, coming to conclusions from research reviews, and philosophical issues around ‘truth’ and values. Second, it looks at the link between research and action. In doing this, it goes from the very practical (how to ensure that your research is used by policymakers and/or practitioners, and to deal with the political pressures on researchers) to the conceptual (in what ways does evidence get used by wider society?) to the normative (should researchers be ‘critical’, and if so, what are their ethical obligations in doing this?).

How are ideas about resistance translated into political action? What forms does resistance take? What are its costs and consequences of this process? In this module you will look at specific instances of resistance to political authority. You will examine the techniques of resistance employed, the assumptions that underpin these techniques, and the tensions and problems that arise as ideas are actualised in political reality. Studying historical and contemporary examples of resistance will help you reflect on the complex relationship between theory and practice in political reality.

What is the meaning of morality and justice in international politics? In this module you will critically examine the core themes of international ethics, including through the work of realist, communitarian, and cosmopolitan thinkers, as well as exploring the just war tradition. You will examine ethics in the context of war, humanitarian intervention, global inequality, the legacies of empire, and the promotion of human rights and consider the roles and responsibilities of the state, international organisations, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organisations.These themes  are explored through grounded case studies that draw together ethical traditions with real world circumstances.

How are politics and society interconnected in the Middle East and North Africa? In this module you will engage with various social and economic themes, and gain a wide-ranging perspective from which to analyse the political and social life of the region. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature and causes of conflict and political violence, and on the role of the relations between state, society, and the international community. The module is comparative in its essence and seeks to locate the MENA region within a global context, demonstrating how international trends and development affect the region, and the region may affect these. You will learn about sectarian relations, political economy, authoritarianism and democracy, religion and politics, demographics, and the role of social media in protest movements.

Why is ethnic conflict so prevalent in Africa? What accounts for the fragility of institutions in some African states? Why have some African states failed to democratise whilst others have succeeded? How are African democracies different from western democracies? And what issues arise in post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding in war-torn African societies? In this module you will explore these questions within the broader context of post-colonial sub-Saharan African politics, with a particular focus on conflict and peacebuilding. In considering how legacies of colonialism continue to shape the nature of post-independence politics on the continent, we will look at colonial legacies, processes of state formation, and the nature and dynamics of political development at the national and local levels. We will also critically reflect on theories and concepts developed in the fields of comparative politics, peace and conflict research, and international relations and apply them to the study of Africa. In so doing, you will gain solid foundations to the understanding of politics and conflict in Africa, which include colonial legacies, societal characteristics and economic challenges that shape the politics of sub-Saharan African states until today.

Qualitative methods allow us to explore and understand complex phenomena in-depth. They are particularly well-suited for situations where the aim is to gain insights into the meanings, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of individuals or groups.  After this module you will have gained the ability to apply critical qualitative methods to complex social issues, skills that are highly sought after in the job market. During your studies on the module, you will get a chance to apply your skills on real-life issues, with deep critical skills leaving you with the experience of being able to apply these both digitally and in real life. This module focuses on the theory and practice of qualitative research and will give you a chance to develop and apply state of the art qualitative research methods skills.  The module allows you to apply your skills, readying you for using these as a researcher and in future employment. It explores the various aspects of using and collecting qualitative data, how to analyse your findings and to present them.  

The aim of the module is to illustrate a range of practical and advanced qualitative techniques while considering related problems of evidence and inference in qualitative analyses. You will be versed in a range of qualitative techniques in an interactive and real-life focused teaching and learning environment, and will have the opportunity to practice some of them, such as: 

• the theory and practice of interviewing and different varieties of interview;  

• focus groups;  

• oral history;  

• case study methods;  

• ethnographic theory and method;  

• action research;  

• critical discourse analysis;  

• narrative analysis;  

• visual methods.

Quantitative research is a vital part of social science. Without understanding quantitative research and quantitative evidence, a substantial fraction of the social scientific literature will be closed to you. This module will teach you how to conduct quantitative research in the social sciences and how to interpret the findings of quantitative research. You will learn the fundamental principles that lie behind statistics and statistical techniques. You will also learn how to produce descriptive statistics, and how to use statistical techniques to examine relationships between social variables. You will also learn how to use regression methods to answer causal research questions. By completing this module you will be equipped both to interpret quantitative research conducted by others, and to carry out your own quantitative studies and describe them in a scientific format. You will also understand the limits of statistical techniques and what different kind of claims are (and are not) warranted by different kinds of statistical evidence. The skills you learn on this module are highly sought after in the job market, in particular the ability to apply them to real life scenarios, and critically assessing which quantitative methods work to study a particular issue arising in your job. At Kent we are a leading social research methods team, working with government, third sector and private sector organisations who seek students with these skills.

Confront urgent questions about the changing nature of conflict, the rise of terrorism, arms proliferation, pandemics, environmental change, and the impact of emerging technologies. Understand how different approaches to the study of international security can help make sense of their real word consequences and wider significance. You will examine a variety of theoretical and empirical materials that provide the basis for analysing pressing issues of war and peace in the world today. In particular, you will engage with debates centred on the ‘broadening’ and ‘deepening’ agenda, which has extended the scope of security studies beyond the nation-state to encompass the role of new security actors and emerging security concerns.

Dive into a fascinating exploration of terrorism, counterterrorism, and human rights. Uncover the the many challenges that surround the study of terrorism, including the interplay between knowledge and power that has shaped this vital area of academic inquiry. You will engage with compelling case studies from the 20th and early 21st centuries, analyzing the way terrorism and counterterrorism manifest in different contexts. You will be challenged to connect these real-world examples back broader debates, including on the contentious idea of state terrorism. This thought-provoking module will expand your understanding and help you make sense of these crucial topics.

What determines environmental outcomes and what are the obstacles to achieving pro-environmental outcomes? This module looks at the politics of global environmental change at the international, national and individual level. Whether it is global environmental governance, national environmental policy making, or individual attitudes and behaviour, we need to understand what motivates actors and how a combination of motivations, interests, and structure translate into environmental outcomes in various contexts and societies. In this module you will gain the tools to explain the politics of global environmental change and environmental outcomes at the international, national and individual level. The module equips you to develop political strategies to improve environmental outcomes by considering, for example, the design of international environmental institutions, the role of leadership, mobilisation, and climate communication. At the end of the module you will also be able  to provide political advice based on the latest available (political) science related to global environmental issues. We consider among other issues global environmental governance, international leadership, the role of NGOs and lobbies in policy making, public support for environmental policy making, individual environmental attitudes and behaviour, and the nexus between environmental degradation and violent conflict.