International Relations

Starting from this year, as part of the master’s programme in International Relations in Eurasia at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs,the students are now specializing in International Relations (previously it was Political Science). Maxim Bratersky, coordinator of the programme, told us about the changes to the course.

— Dr. Bratersky, what are the main changes that have taken place in the programme this year?

— The programme in International Relations in Eurasia (previously International Relations in Eurasian and Atlantic Communities) was launched four years ago with a specialization in Political Science. Starting from this year, we have changed the area of specialization to International Relations. And most importantly, the number of our partner universities in the programme has increased. Initially, the programme was started together with the University of Kent. This year University College London has become our partner. And also in the near future we shall sign a cooperation agreement with the international university consortium as part of the Erasmus Mundus programme.

— Have these changes influenced the structure and contents of the course?

— Certain features of the programme remain the same. This is the only HSE programme where international and Russian students study togethr. They spend one year in an English campus, and the second here at the HSE. However, it’s important to note that we did not just adapt some English programmes for ourselves, this is a new product created through the efforts of both parties. Today the conceptual and methodological basis of the programme consists of the same set of disciplines developed by us together with the University of Kent.

But also there are some changes. Firstly, since University College London has become our partner, an institution that prepares not only specialists in international relations, but also historians and sociologists, we have added elective courses in history and sociology. For example, there are courses on the development of social and political systems in different post-Soviet countries. This has proved extremely interesting to our students. This year three students are writing their master’s theses related to sociological problems, and under the supervision of our colleagues from the Faculty of Sociology. And secondly, as part of our cooperation with the new interuniversity consortium in Erasmus Mundus programme, there is a new research direction in the course, dedicated to the study of the theory and practice of peacekeeping and conflict resolution around the world.

— Which universities are part of the consortium?

— The consortium includes five institutions: The University of Kent, Barcelona Institute of International Studies, The University of Marburg, Vilnius University and the HSE. Each university, based on its particular strengths, will specialize in one specific topic within the framework of the general theme. The HSE will be responsible for work on trade economic and currency conflicts, Marburg takes their traditional peacekeeping topic, Vilnius focuses on the role of the media in conflict resolution and so on.

— Who studies on this programme, what is your target audience?

— A year ago I would have said that they are people who are interested in international relations and have graduated in related discipline areas. But today, taking into account the broader focus of the programme, we also enroll historians, sociologists, economists and students interested in international business. This is an academic programme which requires no work experience. That’s why we are happy to enroll recent graduates. The programme provides an opportunity for internships in institutions which are close to our students’ interests. For example, for several years now, students have had internships in the PIR Center, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and other NGOs and analytical organizations. Three out of eight recent graduates went on to work in their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs. There are also some ‘extreme’ cases: one of our students is writing a master’s thesis on the Arctic. He wants to have an internship on an ice-breaker. I confident he will manage to do this.

As for the application procedure, it is clear and proven: students from different countries – from Great Britain, Europe, USA, China and Russia – all of them apply jointly to two universities, the University of Kent and the HSE. With the new consortium partnership, there also will be an option to apply to the programme via the Barcelona Institute. 23 people have applied for next year, and we believe that 18-20 of them will definitely be enrolled.

Liudmila Mezentseva, HSE News Service