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Conflict, Security & Development MA

Please note: the course details including entry requirements and application deadlines apply to 2024 entry. Fees supplied apply to students entering King’s in 2025. Details for 2025 entry will be published shortly, please check back for more details in the coming weeks. 

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Development and security are inextricably linked, yet all too often, these topics are addressed separately by both academics and policymakers. This Conflict, Security and Development MA is a unique, globally recognised course that does the opposite. It takes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to teach you the dynamic ways in which conflict, insecurity and development interact, thus helping you to develop a full understanding of these issues.

Key benefits

  • Learn about the relationship between poverty, inequality and war; state fragility and peacebuilding; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration after civil wars, and beyond.
  • Enhance your analytical, research and critical thinking skills, and gain detailed practical knowledge of conflict, security and development around the world.
  • Build strong intellectual and methodological foundations for further research, preparing you to become a leader in the public and private sectors, government or academia.
  • Develop communication skills by presenting and disseminating research and analysis in written and oral forms to classmates, tutors, and the wider academic community.
  • Learn from core teaching staff that are highly engaged with the policy world, who bring their field-grounded analysis directly into the classroom.
  • Join an active alumni network of graduates working in academic research, the UN, the EU, NGOs, the civil service, NATO, think tanks, media and publishing, finance and investment, teaching, risk consultancy, and the armed forces.
Tom

My Master’s degree is invaluable to my work.  It provided me with an excellent theoretical understanding of the causes of conflict and instability, especially in relation to recent post-Cold War events. 

Tom, Alumni

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Employability

Conflict, Security and Development MA graduates have gone on to build stellar careers in a number of fields, including in academic research, the UN, the EU, NGOs, the civil service, NATO, think tanks, media and publishing, finance and investment, teaching, risk consultancy, and the armed forces.

Recent graduates have even gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes and to sit on the US National Security Council. Some of the roles held by graduates include:

  • Humanitarian Military Interaction Officer at World Food Programme (UN)
  • International Protection Officer at Nonviolent Peaceforce
  • Global Crisis Analytics Manager at Mercy Corps
  • Security Intelligence Analyst at AIG
  • Senior Global Policy Adviser at Global Witness
  • Rule of Law Officer at UN Women
  • Head, Multilateral Research Group at UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

After graduating, CSD alumni maintain a dynamic community on LinkedIn and Facebook, providing guidance and introductions to new job opportunities across a range of fields.

Curious to find out more? Access on-demand content including taster lectures and talks, and meet our current staff and students on our subject hub page.

Our professional network

Where can a degree like this take you? Hear from 2018 graduate Mana Hancioglu:

Role: Officer at Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Interior Presidency of Migration Management

My current role is mainly focusing on the voluntary return and reintegration policies for refugees. King's College London helped me to improve my work from a security perspective on international relations. It was a multifaceted approach that expanded my horizons.  

Maya's top career tip:

Be curious, passionate and open-minded as it will help you to move forward in your career path. To move forward, don't afraid to take risks. 

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Employability

Conflict, Security and Development MA graduates have gone on to build stellar careers in a number of fields, including in academic research, the UN, the EU, NGOs, the civil service, NATO, think tanks, media and publishing, finance and investment, teaching, risk consultancy, and the armed forces.

Recent graduates have even gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes and to sit on the US National Security Council. Some of the roles held by graduates include:

  • Humanitarian Military Interaction Officer at World Food Programme (UN)
  • International Protection Officer at Nonviolent Peaceforce
  • Global Crisis Analytics Manager at Mercy Corps
  • Security Intelligence Analyst at AIG
  • Senior Global Policy Adviser at Global Witness
  • Rule of Law Officer at UN Women
  • Head, Multilateral Research Group at UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

After graduating, CSD alumni maintain a dynamic community on LinkedIn and Facebook, providing guidance and introductions to new job opportunities across a range of fields.

Curious to find out more? Access on-demand content including taster lectures and talks, and meet our current staff and students on our subject hub page.

Our professional network

Where can a degree like this take you? Hear from 2018 graduate Mana Hancioglu:

Role: Officer at Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Interior Presidency of Migration Management

My current role is mainly focusing on the voluntary return and reintegration policies for refugees. King's College London helped me to improve my work from a security perspective on international relations. It was a multifaceted approach that expanded my horizons.  

Maya's top career tip:

Be curious, passionate and open-minded as it will help you to move forward in your career path. To move forward, don't afraid to take risks. 

Application closing date guidance

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Open days and events

Chat with current students and King's staff to find out about the courses we offer, life at King's and ask any questions you may have.

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