Modern History and International Relations

Modern history and international relations sit at a natural crossroads: one discipline traces how the world came to be as it is, the other analyses how states, institutions, and non-state actors navigate the present. Together they offer a rigorous way of understanding conflict, power, diplomacy, and political change from roughly the nineteenth century to today. This joint programme at the University of Essex gives you a thorough grounding in both fields and explores the productive tension between them, since historical evidence often challenges the theoretical models that international relations scholars use, while IR theory can illuminate patterns that historians might otherwise leave implicit.

You will study the political, social, and cultural forces that shaped modern states and international order, examining how empires rose and fell, how wars were fought and remembered, and how global institutions such as the United Nations emerged from crisis. Alongside this, you will engage with the main theoretical frameworks of international relations, including realism, liberalism, and constructivism, and apply them to questions of security, trade, human rights, and global governance. The programme develops your ability to evaluate sources critically, construct evidence-based arguments, and write analytically, skills that are highly transferable across professions.

This is a three-year full-time degree.

Graduates of programmes combining history and international relations pursue careers in diplomacy, the civil service, journalism, policy research, think tanks, the charity and NGO sector, and international business. The analytical and writing skills you develop are equally valued in law, publishing, and consultancy. Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in history, international relations, security studies, or public policy, using the combined perspective this degree provides as a foundation for more specialised work.