Politics and Arabic

Politics and Arabic is one of the most globally relevant subject combinations a student can choose. Arabic is spoken by over 300 million people as a first language across a vast region from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula, and it is the liturgical language of Islam, giving it cultural and religious significance far beyond its geographic heartland. Politics as a discipline provides the analytical tools to understand how power operates, how institutions function, and why societies organise themselves as they do.

Pairing the two is particularly well suited to anyone interested in the Middle East, international security, development, or diplomacy.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies this four-year, full-time programme includes an optional foundation year. SOAS is one of the world's leading institutions for the study of the Arab world, with specialist staff, language teaching resources, and academic networks that very few universities can match. You will develop your Arabic language skills, engage with Arabic literature and culture, and study the political systems, histories, and contemporary politics of Arab-speaking countries alongside political theory and comparative government more broadly.

The combination gives you both genuine linguistic competence and the analytical depth to understand the political contexts in which that language operates.

Graduates with Arabic and a politics background are exceptionally well placed for careers in diplomacy, the foreign office, international organisations, journalism, think tanks, security and intelligence work, international development, and NGOs operating across the Middle East and North Africa. The combination of political analytical training and Arabic proficiency is genuinely rare and valued by employers who need people able to engage substantively with the Arab world. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in Middle East studies, international relations, security studies, or Arabic linguistics, and the programme provides strong foundations for doctoral research in any of these areas.