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| LSE International Relations | |
|---|---|
| Name | LSE International Relations |
| Established | 1919 |
| City | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Parent | London School of Economics |
LSE International Relations
LSE International Relations is an academic unit within the London School of Economics focused on the study of international affairs, diplomacy, and global politics. It engages with policymakers, practitioners, and scholars across institutions such as the United Nations, European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. The department intersects with historical episodes and contemporary issues involving actors like Winston Churchill, Vladimir Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and institutions including the Foreign Office and the British Empire.
The programme examines the interactions among states, non-state actors, and international organizations exemplified by United States, China, Russia, India, France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey. Methodological influences trace to thinkers associated with Realism (international relations), Liberalism (international relations), Constructivism, and figures such as Hans Morgenthau, Niccolò Machiavelli, Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, John Mearsheimer, Kenneth Waltz, and Alexander Wendt. Courses and research examine treaties and events including the Treaty of Westphalia, Congress of Vienna, Treaty of Versailles, Yalta Conference, Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet–Afghan War, Iraq War, Syrian Civil War, and contemporary crises like the Ukraine conflict (2022–present). Comparative case studies use examples like the European Coal and Steel Community, ASEAN, African Union, Mercosur, and NAFTA.
The unit evolved amid interwar debates after the First World War and the formation of the League of Nations. Early intellectual currents connected to scholars who engaged with the Paris Peace Conference (1919), debates over appeasement, and responses to the Second World War. During the postwar period the department intersected with institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, NATO, and the Warsaw Pact, and contributed analyses during events like the Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Suez Crisis, and Vietnam War. In the late twentieth century faculty engaged with scholarship on decolonization, drawing on case studies from India Independence Act 1947, Algerian War of Independence, Ghanaian independence, and leaders including Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union reshaped curricula to include globalization debates involving the World Trade Organization, European Union enlargement, and IMF programmes.
Undergraduate and postgraduate offerings intersect with professional streams tied to institutions like the Civil Service, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, World Health Organization, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Interpol. Degree options reference theorists and works such as The Clash of Civilizations, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Imagined Communities, and scholarship by Susan Strange, E. H. Carr, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, and Max Weber. Modules cover security studies with casework on the Falklands War, Gulf War, Kosovo War, and Rwandan Genocide, as well as political economy addressing Latin American debt crisis, Asian financial crisis (1997), and Eurozone crisis. Language paths and internships connect students to postings in cities like New York City, Brussels, Geneva, Washington, D.C., Beijing, Hong Kong, Abuja, and Nairobi.
Research clusters collaborate with centres and initiatives named for figures and topics such as the Cold War International History Project, programmes on Human Rights, Refugees, Migration, Terrorism, and Cyberwarfare. Partnerships include Chatham House, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Royal United Services Institute, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Brookings Institution. Projects examine treaties and frameworks like the Paris Agreement, Geneva Conventions, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and Non-Proliferation Treaty. Research outputs engage with journals and forums including International Affairs, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, International Security, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Faculty and visitors have included scholars and practitioners associated with entities such as the House of Commons, House of Lords, European Commission, International Criminal Court, and national administrations like Barack Obama's and Margaret Thatcher's. Alumni occupy roles in arenas such as the United Nations General Assembly, European Parliament, International Court of Justice, World Economic Forum, and national presidencies and prime ministries exemplified by Cyril Ramaphosa, Aung San Suu Kyi, George Papandreou, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Tony Blair, John Major, Gordon Brown, Kwasi Kwarteng (as an example of national politicians), diplomats linked to British Embassy, Washington, D.C., UK Mission to the UN, and leaders in think tanks like Aspen Institute. Scholars associated with the unit have published alongside names like Samuel Huntington, Joseph Nye, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Keohane, Stephen Walt, and Thomas Hobbes in discussions on power, norms, and institutions.
Student activity includes societies and events tied to organizations such as the LSESU, debate series featuring guests from Foreign Office, European Parliament, US State Department, and forums like Hay Festival, Davos Conference (World Economic Forum), and collaborations with student groups that simulate bodies such as the Model United Nations, European Youth Parliament, and moot courts resembling the International Court of Justice. Societies host panels with speakers from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Greenpeace, Oxfam, and corporate partners including Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Barclays, McKinsey & Company, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The unit’s influence is reflected in citations in policy documents from United Nations Development Programme, World Bank Group, European Commission policy papers, and national white papers produced by ministries such as the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of State. Rankings and recognitions often reference evaluations by publications and organizations such as the Times Higher Education Supplement, QS World University Rankings, Financial Times, and awards connected to figures like Cecil Rhodes (historical), recipients of Nobel Prize in Peace, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and other international honours. The department’s research informs public debates on crises like Climate change, Pandemic influenza, and Global financial crisis, engaging with policy networks including G20 and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.