Finance and International Relations

Finance and international relations is a combination that makes particular sense for a world in which capital flows, currency movements, trade agreements, sanctions regimes, and geopolitical risk are inseparably intertwined. Finance provides the theoretical and quantitative tools to understand how money, investment, and risk are managed within and across organisations, while international relations examines the structures of global politics, the behaviour of states and non-state actors, and the international institutions through which cooperation and conflict are managed. Together, they prepare graduates to operate at the intersection of the financial and the geopolitical, which is precisely where many of the most consequential professional roles are found.

At the University of Aberdeen, this four-year full-time degree brings both disciplines together in a programme that also includes a year abroad. You will study the core principles of finance, including corporate finance, investment analysis, financial markets, and risk management, alongside international relations theory, foreign policy, international organisations, and the political dimensions of the global economy. The degree develops your analytical and quantitative skills alongside your ability to situate financial decisions in their geopolitical context, building a breadth of understanding that neither discipline alone could provide.

The year abroad offers the opportunity to study in another country and to develop both your international perspective and your personal independence.

Graduates are well positioned for careers in international financial institutions, investment banking, asset management, international development finance, the civil service and diplomatic service, think tanks, international organisations, and global consultancy. The ability to bring both financial and geopolitical analysis to bear on complex questions is a genuinely distinctive competence that many employers in these sectors actively seek. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in international finance, international relations, global governance, or financial economics, building the specialist depth needed for senior roles in the fields where the two disciplines intersect most powerfully.