War, Strategy and Security

War, strategy and security is a degree that takes the study of organised violence and its political dimensions as seriously as they deserve. War has shaped human history more profoundly than almost any other phenomenon: it has determined the boundaries of states, the fates of civilisations and the distribution of power across the world. Strategy is the intellectual discipline through which actors attempt to use force or the threat of force to achieve political objectives.

Security studies examines how threats are defined, how they are perceived and how governments, military organisations and international institutions respond to them.

At the University of Hull, the three-year full-time programme engages with these questions rigorously and across multiple levels of analysis. You will study the theory and history of war, strategic theory from Clausewitz and Sun Tzu through to contemporary debates, international security, nuclear strategy, terrorism and counter-terrorism, intelligence and the ethics of war. The degree develops your ability to analyse complex historical and contemporary cases, to evaluate competing explanations and to engage with the policy debates that surround these questions at the highest level.

Hull's position in Yorkshire, with its strong connection to military history including its role in both World Wars, provides an interesting regional backdrop for a globally oriented subject.

Graduates of war, strategy and security degrees work in the civil service, the armed forces and intelligence agencies, international organisations, security consultancy, journalism, policy research, think tanks and academia. The combination of analytical, research and communication skills developed on the degree is valued across these contexts. Postgraduate study in strategic studies, international security, international relations or political science is a natural continuation for those who want to develop specialist expertise.