Master of Arts in National Security Studies Kings College London, UK

Our unique National Security Studies MA enables participants to develop an in-depth understanding of national security both in the UK and from an international perspective. The course focuses on cross governmental responses to security challenges and is structured around key themes such as strategy, counter-terrorism, and ethics in national security.

This course brings together current serving security policy practitioners in the public and private sectors, studying alongside our postgraduate students with an interest in policy. All participants will gain an in-depth understanding of national security issues and security approaches in the international context. The course will educate students in key national security themes, enabling them to critically analyse current and future developments in the field.

Key benefits

• Development of strategic analysis and policy development. The course culminates in the King's National Security Briefing, where participants present their policy proposal ideas to an elite panel of national security experts.
• Development of in-depth, critical and comparative analysis of national security, and familiarisation with the latest research in the discipline.
• High level oral presentation and effective writing skills, developed through a programme of formative and summative exercises throughout the course.
• Transferable skills such as the development of practical, policy-oriented insights into national security coordination and strategy.
• Students benefit from the unique central London location, enabling them to participate in a wide range of national security-related activities and events within and beyond King's, and to build their professional networks in the field.
• A chance to network and connect with visiting academics, government ministers, diplomats and other experts in the field of national security.

First, students are provided with an introduction to the historical, conceptual and practical dimensions of the developing a comprehensive ‘national security approach’. Students become acquainted with the structures of national security by studying aspects of the national security architecture ranging from National Security Councils to strategic reviews, such as the recent UK Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. Participants will learn about why and how international governments must coordinate their national security activities even more coherently and effectively to better deliver cross-government and whole-of-system government outcomes, to address an ever-growing range of security threats domestically and internationally. Although the UK is the primary case study of the ‘national security architecture’ classes, the lessons derived are applied to diverse international case studies during the interactive seminars.

Second, students learn about various processes of national security, including defence strategy, counterterrorism, risk management, intelligence and oversight. Participants examine the effectiveness of these processes in different national contexts: how successful have the security agencies of national governments been in tackling terrorism? What are the factors that undermine the relationship between intelligence assessment and policy? Is the UK’s National Risk Register (NRR) fit for purpose? Participants are empowered to think through these critical puzzles in the pursuit of national security.

Third, students are introduced to a range of tools of national security, examining instruments such as sanctions, energy security, critical infrastructure, science and technology, and the role of the private sector. Participants develop a practical understanding of the challenges and opportunities for the instrumentalisation of national security, including whether there are any functions or sub-sectors of national security strategy that are so sensitive that they should never be conducted by the private sector, assessing the impact of unilateral sanctions on target states, evaluating the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence, and appraising the extent to which foreign investment in critical national infrastructure constitutes a national security issue.