The programme will give students a comprehensive and up-to-the-minute understanding of modern military theory and operations in the light of the wide-ranging economic, social, technological and political changes in the world between 1945 and today. It will equip students to engage critically with scholarly debate about the conduct and nature of contemporary warfare, and to understand the contexts in which modern military operations take place.
Study
Modules are divided into five units, each studied for two weeks. Within each unit, students read online authored content and follow links to extensive readings and other resources. Selected students then post a draft response to the unit Short Essay question, and this draft forms the basis of a lively and intensive asynchronous (message-board style) online discussion within the tutor group, moderated by the tutor. At the end of this discussion, the selected students revise their Short Essays for submission.
All students also complete an individual Long Essay for each module, due after all units are complete.
After studying the required number of modules, all students then complete an individual dissertation, which forms the final element of their degree programme.
Delivery and duration
The entire MA War in the Modern World Programme is delivered online, via the King's College London Virtual Learning Environment, (KEATS); there is no requirement for students to attend King's College London or even to be resident in the UK.
The programme timetable is based on three terms per academic year (September–December, January-March and April–June), with students normally completing one taught module per term. Students usually take two years to complete the required taught modules, followed by an additional nine months to complete the 15,000-word dissertation, (if doing the MA). It may be possible for a student to complete the programme in a shorter time if circumstances and teaching arrangements allow.
We estimate that students will need to allow 10 to 15 hours work per week for each 11-week term to complete the taught modules.
Note: option modules available in a given term will be selected from the above list, depending on tutor availability and student numbers. We cannot guarantee that any particular student will be able to take a particular module in a given term.
Students must normally complete four option modules to complete the programme. Students with ICSC(L) or ICSC(M) accreditation complete three option modules.
Description
The Dissertation is a core requirement for the MA, and represents one third of the assessment overall. It is therefore an important element of the MA programme, since it provides the opportunity to demonstrate specialized understanding and engagement with associated scholarly debates, and exercise independent critical judgment. This makes the Dissertation a major project, which demands considerable time, effort, and organizational ability, but which also provides you with an opportunity to explore an aspect of war in the modern world that particularly interests you.
Researching and writing a Dissertation is one of the most challenging and rewarding tasks you will face as an MA student. In contrast with the mode of study in the taught modules it is your responsibility to identify a viable topic; conduct the necessary research; produce a sustained and coherent argument within a limit of 15,000 words.
The Dissertation module will equip you with the knowledge and skills to undertake this work. We first consider what is involved in the planning and design of a research project. We then move on to study the particular strengths and weaknesses of the range of research methods available, provide guidance on conducting bibliographic searches and compiling a literature review, and discuss the wide variety of online and print resources. Finally, you are asked to put together an outline and preliminary bibliography for your Dissertation, which will be approved by your Tutor before you embark on your research and writing.
A key element in this part of the MA programme is ensuring that your Dissertation project is viable, and this aspect will form a major part of your supervisor's assessment of the suitability of your outline. A viable topic is one that can be addressed within the resources available. You will be given further guidance on this when you embark on the Dissertation module.
Dissertations must be written by the student without any unacknowledged quotation or close paraphrasing of the work of other authors. Additionally, a dissertation may be original in that it makes a fresh contribution to knowledge or presents a wholly novel interpretation or argument: MA dissertations often meet this high standard of originality, but it is not a requirement that they do so.
The manner in which your Dissertation is presented, and the diligence with which it has been prepared and illustrated, are considered integral to the quality of the Dissertation and will be reflected in the marking. Typing errors, spelling mistakes, inaccurate calculation, poor grammar, and convoluted syntax are frowned upon. On the contrary, effective written expression is a core criterion for the assessment of the Dissertation.
Study units
Description
This module examines the development of contemporary warfare during the period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s. It is a key component of the overall programme and provides the foundation for the more detailed engagement with issues and concepts relating to the conduct of war in the modern world that follows in the later modules. As well as gaining knowledge and understanding of the key events of the early Cold War, you are encouraged to examine developments in strategic theory and crisis management. This is achieved by extensive use in the learning objects of archival material to demonstrate how vital issues of war and peace presented themselves to political leaders at times of crisis, and the difficult choices they faced.
Our main focus is the military and political impact of the global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The module begins by examining the origins of the Cold War with the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers and the division of Europe, culminating in the Berlin Blockade in 1948– 9. The module then analyses the spread of the Cold War to Asia and the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Korean War and the 1956, 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars. The module also examines another key feature of the Cold War: the nuclear arms race. It follows the qualitative and quantitative nuclear arms race between the superpowers and considers the different strategies of nuclear war. As an example, the unit looks at the most dangerous nuclear confrontation of the Cold War, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The module concludes with a detailed study of the Vietnam War.
Study units
Description
This module examines the development of contemporary warfare from the mid Cold War until the start of the 21st Century. It is a key component of the overall programme and provides the foundation for the more detailed engagement with issues and concepts relating to the conduct of war in the modern world which follows in the later modules. As well as knowledge and understanding of the key events of the years from 1975 to 2001, students will be encouraged to examine developments in strategic theory and the conduct of war.
The main focus of this module is the end game in the Cold War, as the United States finally overcame the Soviet Union and established itself as the dominant global power. The module starts off by looking at the divisions within the communist sphere, with the abortive East European rebellions against Soviet rule and China's split with Moscow. We consider how the Sino-Soviet split and a restive Eastern Europe affected the Cold War as a whole. The module also examines Ronald Reagan's global offensive against the USSR and the increased American support for anti-Marxist rebels in the Third World in the 1980s. In particular, we analyse the Soviet war in Afghanistan and investigate why the Soviets failed to achieve their goals there. The module then looks at Mikhail Gorbachev's disengagement from the Third World, the revolutions in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union. We assess why the Cold War ended and why it ended with a Soviet defeat.
The module concludes by examining the configuration of world politics after the end of the Cold War and it considers some of the key texts that influenced the immediate post-Cold War security debates: were we, in 1991, witnessing the start of a American led 'New World Order' or a return to international anarchy? As part of this discussion we study the main crises and conflicts of the period, such as the first Gulf War (1991), the wars in the former Yugoslavia, the failed United States' intervention in Somalia and the genocide in Rwanda.
Pre-requisites
None
Description
The Induction and Orientation module provides a comprehensive introduction to the King's College London vitual learning environment, (KEATS) and to the WiMW and APiMW programmes. Studying it allows you to familiarize yourself with the online learning environment through which your masters degree is delivered. In the Induction and Orientation module you will have the opportunity to begin planning and managing your work. Above all, the Induction and Orientation module provides you with a supported introduction to the shared experience of online learning before you embark on the academic part of the programme.
Aims
The aims of this module are:
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, you will have gained:
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
This module allows for a more specialized study of security in Africa than will have been possible in the core modules, and focuses more closely on the internal dynamics of the particular conflicts that have taken place as well as the role of external actors. Key issues that have brought Africa to the focus of international attention include the autocratic tendencies of some of its leaders, the mismanagement of some countries' economies, in particular the corruption of elites with regard to the exploitation of natural resources, and the weakness of some state institutions, notably those charged with the management of security.
Given Africa's diversity, we must be wary of making generalizations. Nevertheless, there are common themes and experiences that link African countries, such as the legacy of colonialism, the nature of post-colonial regimes, super-power competition during the Cold War and internal struggles for the control of valuable natural resources. In this course, we aim to take a closer look at these themes together with post-Cold War security challenges of state failure, poverty, disease, ethnic conflict and external intervention as they affect specific countries or regions in Africa. We also consider the ways in which the continent is trying to use the experiences of the past to address the challenges of the present and the expectations of its future.
Study units
Description
Since the advent of air power during World War I its advocates have argued that in many ways it changed strategy forever. Traditional beliefs that decisive battles determined the outcomes of conflicts gave way to new assertions that, by operating directly against the enemy's centres of governance or its population, air power could achieve strategic results without the need for costly and bloody battles. Throughout the twentieth century's seemingly endless wars, attempts to achieve results in this fashion had the nature, and sometimes the appearance, of experimentation. Strategists and campaign planners struck at different targets at different times with mixed results that have been difficult to assess and measure. Alongside those campaigns, and ordinarily gaining far less attention, "tactical" aviators attacked traditional military targets upon battlefields, believing that the destruction of enemy forces in victorious battles would still, as always, prove decisive. Unfolding in a broadly chronological fashion, with a much closer focus on theories and ideas than on events, this module will explore the relative strategic influence of both independent and integrated air campaigns through analysis of their aims, effects and ethics.
Study units
Description
Consistent with and building upon the theme of Air Power Studies 1:The Quest for a New Strategy, but fully self-contained and able to stand alone, this module assesses a range of historical case studies of campaigns in which air power ostensibly contributed significantly to joint battles. Through in-depth campaign analyses the module seeks to determine the degree to which so-called 'tactical' inputs to battle can produce 'strategic' outcomes. It also examines the complex and sometimes awkward relationship between air forces and surface forces. These issues are powerfully important in our era in which protracted wars between industrialised states have become less frequent and less likely than intra-state conflicts and insurgencies. The case studies include: the Eastern Front, the North African Campaign, the Arab-Israeli Wars, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the Gulf Wars and the War on Terror.
Study units
Description
This module builds on the substantive knowledge you have gained in History of Contemporary Warfare 1 and 2, and students will be expected to draw on the previous modules for examples.
The module will introduce you to the two main theoretical schools of thought in the discipline of IR – namely, realism and liberalism. Realism is the dominant paradigm in IR, and focuses on the role of states and power in world politics. Liberalism, in contrast, looks at the role of domestic politics and ideology in determining the foreign and national security policies of states. It also draws attention to the role of non-state actors, such as transnational non-governmental organisations (from aid agencies to terrorist networks). However, war is not just the product of power and politics. It is also shaped by how we think, feel and socialise. This is constructivist theory, with its focus on the culture of war.
The second half of the module explores empirical aspects of contemporary security. For instance, we will critically examine the claim that the end of the 20th century witnessed the rise of 'New Wars' fuelled by ideological clashes rather than conflicting interests. We will also be exploring the evolving normative and legal framework of contemporary warfare, based around the UN Charter and the laws of armed conflict. In exploring these empirical themes, we will be applying the theories considered in the first half of the module. For example, ethnic conflict may be explained in realist terms as the product of unstable regional balance of power dynamics, in liberal terms as the result of illiberal 'hypernationalist' politics, and also in terms of the psychology and sociology of intra-communal violence.
Study units
Description
Europe has undergone radical change since the end of the Cold War. The collapse of communism in eastern and south-eastern Europe in the late-1980s produced a variety of responses from the embrace of liberal capitalism and democracy among some former Warsaw Pact members, to the use of nationalism by elites anxious to maintain their hold on power. In some cases, an opportunity was seen to break up the old centralized structures, creating new states, or reviving old ones that had been subsumed under federative arrangements. This was a chaotic and often violent affair, causing a host of regional security problems and challenging existing European institutions as well as efforts to create a new European security architecture.
In this module, we focus on the two of the most important examples of this process - the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Drawing on these two substantive examples, we consider complex political and legal concepts of statehood, sovereignty, self-determination together with contested claims surrounding notions of nationalism, human rights, humanitarian intervention and legitimacy. We also consider the ways in which issues of security have been recast to reflect a host of 'new security challenges' facing Europe internally and externally. Finally, we discuss the implications of this for the reconfiguration of a New European security architecture and a common European foreign and security policy.
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
This is a course about the form of warfare known as insurgency. It is not comprehensive: the subject is large, despite having suffered relative professional and academic neglect for many years; it is also quite complicated, containing within it many (when viewed from the perspective of 'regular' war) paradoxes which generate much confusion and debate; and it is a field which is in flux at the moment owing to a series of conflicts which question some longstanding strategic assumptions about warfare now and for the foreseeable future. Instead the course attempts to chart a journey, the evolution of insurgency beginning with one vital character, Mao Zedong, whose impact on the strategy of irregular warfare we can track over sixty years and ending with another: Osama bin Laden whose historical 'story arc' we have just begin to trace.
Unit 1: 'Before Mao' looks at the Roots of Insurgency with a view to outlining some of its enduring principles and features, particularly through the prism of one of the more romantic insurgent figures, Lawrence of Arabia who once wrote a treatise on The Science of Guerrilla Warfare. We will also examine the defining tactical method of the insurgent—'propaganda of the deed'—before moving on to a consideration of pre-Maoist counterinsurgency, for the most part focusing on British practice and theorizing on the matter.
Unit 2: 'After Mao' takes as its starting point the victory of Mao's revolution in China in an attempt to describe the essential characteristics of Maoist insurgency – the insurgency archetype for many decades after. We then explore the counterinsurgency doctrines which emerged in response to it with a particular focus on Galula and Kitson. We will also consider the varying approaches of Britain in Malaya and the United States in Vietnam with a view to understanding the reasons for the respective outcomes in these campaigns.
Unit 3: 'Transition' seeks to track the first stage evolution of the Maoist prototype of insurgency to a different form more attuned to the increasingly urbanized and international post-war world. A major focus is on the way in which two insurgent groups in particular, the IRA and the PLO, managed to harness the international media to accomplishment of their strategic aims. We will also look at the phenomena of 'failing states' and its impact on insurgency thinking before moving on to a discussion of the characteristics of the so-called 'New Wars'.
Unit 4: 'Complex Irregular Warfare' is essentially about two things: the conceptualization of the post-Cold War (and then post-911) security environment ('Three Block War', 'Wars Amongst the People', 'Hybrid Wars'); and the actual practice of such in four places: Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, which we will explore in some detail.
Unit 5: 'Global Insurgency' attempts to pin down the moving target which is the form of warfare ushered in by Osama bin Laden with his attacks on the United States on September 11th 2001. The key issues to be explored are the emergence of a new dimension of conflict – the virtual or 'cyber', the violent confluence of Globalization and grievance, and the new manifestation of Propaganda of the Deed.
The course will conclude with a reflection on the blurring categories of conflict and the hybridization of future warfare.
Study units
Description
Intelligence in War and Peace explores the complexities and difficulties of using intelligence in war and outside war. It is not explicitly a history of intelligence use, incorporating study of various intelligence theories, as well as how intelligence failures occur and how they might be avoided. It deals with practical issues of intelligence analysis, explores intelligence organisation in the Western World over the last 60 years, and examines how the use of intelligence in conventional and unconventional warfare has changed in this period. The module explores a range of themes, from cognitive dissonance and other practical problems of intelligence analysis, to the history of the evolution of intelligence organization in Britain and the US since 1945. It explores the use of intelligence in peace-time, including national security and counter-terrorism. The use of intelligence in war is also explored in a thematic fashion. Intelligence has been and will continue to be an important force-multiplier in conventional warfare, and new technology is increasing the chances of success. However, in counterinsurgency, high-tech means of intelligence collection is partnered with more conventional approaches, focusing on the attainment of cultural, social and demographic intelligence.
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
International law is at the forefront of political, academic and public discourse about the use of force. This is evident from the content and tone of debates about whether the international community was in breach of its obligation to intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda, and, conversely, whether NATO's action against Serbia over Kosovo in the absence of explicit UNSC authorisation overstepped the boundaries of international law. More recently, it has been evident in discussions about the status and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and the launching of air strikes against Libya in 2011. Concurrent with this development is an increasing trend toward international judicial intervention in cases where there have been widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, with the establishment of ad hoc international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, a Special Court for Sierra Leone and a permanent International Criminal Court. Discussions of legality feature ever more prominently in public discourse on the use of force, with allegations of war crimes levelled against political leaders on all sides.
All of this has given rise to a need for a more systematic and thorough understanding of the regulation of armed conflict, and of the legal and ethical restraints on the use of force. This course is designed to provide a framework in which to discuss these important issues.
The course begins by considering the evolution of ethical and legal restraints on the use of force, culminating in the prohibition on the use of force enshrined in the United Nations Charter in all but exceptional circumstances. Units 2, 3 and 4 consider the scope of these exceptions in detail. Drawing on legal texts, academic debates and case studies, in unit 2 we consider the meaning and application of collective security under Article 42 of the UN Charter, the evolution of peacekeeping from its inception to the large footprint peacebuilding missions of the late-1990s and the legal framework for the regulation of peace operations devolved to regional actors. In unit 3, we consider the evolution of the Responsibility to Protect and its application in Kosovo, Darfur, Iraq, Libya and beyond. In unit 4, we consider the scope and application of the right of self-defence, from traditional understandings and interpretations of Article 51 of the UN Charter to its application in a contemporary world faced with threats of nuclear weapons proliferation, acts of terrorism and cyber-war, to name but a few.
Finally, in unit 5, we consider the scope and application of international law governing the use of force in the post-911 world and consider key challenges posed by the character of contemporary war and the 'War on Terror'.
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
Some of the most dramatic and important events of the period covered in War in the Modern World have taken place in the Middle East. This module provides students with an opportunity to study them in depth, adding to knowledge gained in the core modules (History of Contemporary Warfare). The first part of the module sets the scene by examining the imperialist history of the region and the forms decolonization took, before considering two enduring influences on regional affairs – the impacts of oil and Islam. The second part of the module focuses on Zionism and the Arab–Israeli conflict, which has wracked the region from the middle part of the 20th century to the present day. The third part of the module will look at conflict in the Persian Gulf region, including the Iran–Iraq war, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the two Gulf Wars (1991 and 2003) and the subsequent insurgency in Iraq
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
Sea power explores a variety of aspects relating to the development and employment of naval forces in relation to war in the modern world. The approach encompasses elements of naval strategic thinking, naval history and an overview of contemporary naval operations to provide a broad understanding of the interaction between sea power and nations' wider strategic interests. The module begins by highlighting the complexities of defining what sea power is and how differing approaches to the employment of naval force have evolved over the past century. The components of sea power are outlined, as is the relationship between technological innovation and the evolution of naval power.
It further explores the concepts surrounding securing command of the sea and conversely denying its use by opponents. Unlike land warfare the purpose of naval force is not to take and hold ground, but rather to protect maritime communications and influence events ashore. In this role naval power projection and expeditionary warfare are examined. In addition to the wartime activities of naval forces the considerable array of peacetime duties, ranging from diplomatic tools and confidence building measures, constabulary and humanitarian operations are explored. Historic case studies are employed to outline timeless principles and key moments in the evolution of modern sea power. These are balanced by contemporary examples, like anti-piracy operations or the current maritime build-up in the Asia-Pacific region to illustrate the continued importance of sea power in the contemporary world.
Study units
Description
Some of the most important events in world history since 1945 have taken place in South Asia. At the beginning of the 21st century the region is a centre of both profound economic importance with the rise of India, but also a locus of global conflict in the context of the War on Terror, especially with military operations in Afghanistan. Historically, Afghanistan has been an important part of the strategic and security atlas of South Asia and as such is included in this module. The region is also the site of potential major war between two nuclear powers. This module will provide students an opportunity to study the region in depth, adding to knowledge gained in the core courses. The first part of the course will set the scene by examining the imperialist history of the region, and particularly the form and impact of decolonisation which set the stage of the Indo-Pakistan Wars, as well as the importance of the Kashmir region as a source of conflict. The next part of the course will look at the interaction of the region with two key external strategic players: the United States and China. Finally it will address the development of nuclear weapons in the region and its impact on the security dynamic therein.
Pre-requisites
Study units
Description
This module examines a range of approaches to strategic studies and the conduct of contemporary warfare, including the role of nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy; theories of guerrilla warfare and counter-insurgency; the concept of a 'revolution in military affairs' of the 1990s; the evolution of joint warfare; the 'strategic' use of airpower; forms of land warfare; maritime operations; and peacekeeping and nation-building. Finally, we consider the prospects for the conduct of future wars. This module builds on the substantive knowledge you will have gained in the modules History of Contemporary Warfare 1 and 2 by critically engaging with a wide body of literature and concepts relating to the conduct of war in the modern world.
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree or GPA above 3.3 (USA) in history, international relations, political science, economics or other appropriate subject. Degrees in other subjects, or candidates with lower awards than those above, may be considered. Strong references and personal statements are an important part of the application, as is relevant working experience. An alternative professional or other qualification obtained by a formal examination may be approved. Prior experiential learning can also be taken into consideration by the admissions panel. Where alternative professional or other qualifications are not available, evidence will be required that a candidate can undertake academic study to the level required. If necessary, candidates will be asked to submit a sample of written work.
Other requirements: Applicants will also require: regular access to a high-specification computer with unbroken broadband internet connection; good time-management skills; and confidence in using computers.
If there are any anomalies in your academic record, please use the personal statement to explain related extenuating circumstances.
Reduced fees are available for Defence Academy students who have passed ICSC(L), ICSC(M) and ICSC(A) only. You are required to provide evidence. To find out if you are eligible see our web page about accreditation and fees.