This programme is designed to address this need, providing you with advanced training in the analysis of international relations theory and practice. In the post-Cold War globalising world there is a growing need for more sophisticated ways of understanding the dramatic changes taking place in states and societies. Our International Relations MA develops your critical consideration of traditional approaches to the discipline. You gain a deeper understanding of international relations, along with a more critical understanding of the way that international affairs is best studied. The programme provides you with an ideal platform from which to enter employment, or to continue your studies. The University of Kent has long been a centre of excellence for the study of the subject, which has been a core concern of the university since its establishment in 1965. Kent counts among its staff world leading authorities in the fields of area and regional studies, conflict analysis, security studies, international relations theory and international ethics. The MA in International Relations is one of the largest graduate programmes in the School of Politics and International Relations, and each year attracts a diverse student body from around the world. PgDip course is also available. This programme aims to: provide a programme that will attract, and meet the needs of, those seeking advanced training in the discipline of international relations; provide you with a research-active learning environment which gives you a good grounding in the study of international relations, including its political, social, and economic aspects; examine how state, non-state and supra-national actors behave and interact through a dynamic appreciation of different levels of analysis; ensure that you acquire advanced knowledge of the theories of international relations, the heritage and development of the discipline, its major debates, its inherent nature as an interdisciplinary study, and a critical appreciation of the essentially contested nature of politics in general and international relations in particular; ensure that you acquire an advanced understanding of the relationship between the theoretical, methodological, and empirical content of the issue-areas studied; develop your general research skills and personal skills (transferable skills), in particular through a substantial dissertation.