MSc History of International Relations

The MSc History of International Relations, delivered by the Department of International History, is an intensive one year degree designed to develop your intellectual skills and knowledge of global history which will advance your career prospects across a wide-range of sectors

This popular taught programme is unique and distinctive. It's aimed at students wanting to enhance their understanding of the forces that have shaped the world to date. You'll study these at one of the most renowned departments globally for international history, nestling within the world’s leading institute for social sciences, in the heart of cosmopolitan London. The programme can offer a bespoke set of courses for students who have studied the subject at undergraduate level and who want to specialise further. Equally, it has foundational courses that are especially suitable for students wanting to transition from related subjects including political science, languages, economics, law, journalism, sociology and psychology.

Whatever you choose, you'll develop your analytical skills and ability to critically assess dynamics, events and individuals that have shaped the modern world. You can take two specialised history options that are geographically global, and also range chronologically from the Renaissance to the post-Cold War period. Teaching is delivered by academic staff who are at the cutting edge of the field often incorporating their most recent research.

Additionally, you have the unique opportunity to take a relevant course offered by other world leading LSE departments, enabling you to further widen your intellectual skills, challenge your perspective and to engage with some of today’s complex issues being tackled head on. Finally, you have the opportunity to hone your research and writing skill-set, by compiling a detailed, research-based 10,000 word dissertation, supervised by an expert in your area of choice.

To help you navigate your options, we have put together the following thematic pathways. You can, of course, opt to develop your own bespoke set of options. Pathways are not prescriptive offering suggestions only, to help you focus your course choices.

Current pathways include:

• War, Conflict and Peace
• The History of the Cold War
• The History of Africa and the African Diaspora
• The History of Europe
• The History of the Americas
• Transitions to Modernity

Read more about the MSc History of International Relations pathways.

Watch the Virtual Graduate Open talk given by Master's Admissions Advisor Dr Paul Stock in November 2025.

General reading

• Antony Best, Jussi Hanhimaki, Joe Maiolo, and Kirsten Schulze, International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Routledge, 2014 3rd edition)

Subject specific recommendations

• Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (1999)
• Jeremy Friedman, Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World (2015)
• Elizabeth Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State (2019)
• Hazel V Carby, Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands (Verso 2019)
• Kristina Spohr, Post Wall, Post Square, How Bush, Gorbachev, Kohl, and Deng Shaped the World after 1989 (YUP, 2020)
• O. A. Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (2011)
• Desmond Dinan, ed, Origins and Evolution of the European Union (OUP, 2014)
• David van Reybrouck, Congo: The Epic History of a People (2014 edn)
• Nelson Mandela, Conversations with Myself (2010)

MSc History of International Relations students wishing to develop a specialism in a particular subject can follow one of the prorgamme's seven pathways. You're also free to opt not to follow any pathway should you prefer.

You'll take at least two specialised history options, choosing from options that span the globe geographically and range chronologically from the Renaissance to the end of the Cold War. You also have the option of taking a relevant course offered by another Department. In addition, you will complete a detailed, research-based 10,000-word dissertation.

Watch our course videos

Dissertation

This component of the degree reflects our belief that master's level history students should be willing to engage in detailed historical research. In preparing this piece of work, students are provided with guidance about how to choose an appropriate topic, how to identify and locate the necessary sources, and how to write up their research findings. This is done through a combination of departmental workshops and discussions between individual students and their dissertation supervisor. But ultimately the dissertation is a test of the research abilities and writing skills of each individual student.

While in London, preparing your dissertation, you can take advantage of numerous world-class research libraries and archives. These include the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), the British Library, the libraries of specialised schools of the University of London such as the Institute for Historical Research, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and the LSE's own library, the British Library of Political and Economic Sciences. The LSE's archive also contains much valuable research material, as do the collections of the Imperial War Museum, the Warburg Institute and many others.

History is a wide ranging and challenging subject to study. It seeks to understand the past and to make sense of the present, adding an important dimension to the understanding of many aspects of human society. The department is world renowned in its field, offering a unique perspective on the history of relations between states, peoples and cultures. We pride ourselves on giving students the benefit of ground-breaking research throughout our teaching programmes.

Our degrees will give you a broad international perspective on the past. We give attention both to domestic and international issues and many of the courses we offer deal with major events in the history of international relations.

Since the behaviour of countries in the international arena cannot be understood without a knowledge of their distinct social, political, economic and cultural characteristics, we provide courses covering major aspects of the history of ideas and mentalities.

LSE was founded in 1895 originally as an institute of higher education for graduate students. The department reflects this tradition and takes its responsibility for undergraduate teaching and supervision very seriously. We admit nearly as many undergraduate students as master's students. We have one of the most cosmopolitan undergraduate communities in London and one of the most vibrant and dynamic.

Learn more about our programmes, research, public events and people.

Department of International History

Who's who

Professor Vladislav Zubok

Programme Director and Professor of International History

Department of International History

• Cold War
• Modern history
• Europe
• European Union
• Modern warfare
• Russia

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified prospective students. At LSE, we want to recruit students with the best academic merit, potential and motivation, irrespective of background.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your application form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including predicted and achieved grades)
• statement of academic purpose
• two academic references
• CV.

See further information on supporting documents.

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements.

Programme and admissions enquiries

For questions related to your application or the admissions process, please check our admissions frequently asked questions page.

If you have any queries which aren't answered on the website, please contact the department's Graduate Admissions Advisor.

This wide-ranging master's programme is aimed at those looking for a taught graduate programme in history in an international context. It caters for a wide variety of students, including those who have studied history at an undergraduate level and those who are making the transition from related subjects such as political science, modern languages, economics, law or journalism.

Applications for this programme are considered on a rolling basis. This means that applications will close once the programme is full.

There is no fixed deadline. However, if you’d like to be considered for any funding opportunities, you must submit your application (and all supporting documents) by the funding deadline. See the fees and funding section below for more details.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

All taught courses are required to include formative coursework which is unassessed. It's designed to help prepare you for summative assessment which counts towards the course mark and to the degree award. LSE uses a range of formative assessment, such as essays, problem sets, case studies, reports, quizzes, mock exams and many others. Summative assessment may be conducted during the course or by final examination at the end of the course. An indication of the formative coursework and summative assessment for each course can be found in the relevant course guide.

LSE History graduates find employment in almost any job sector due to the wide range of transferable skills developed during their studies.

Very few people with a degree in History go on to work as historians, but students with a degree in International History have many skills that are in high demand today.

History students learn to read and process large amounts of information, to sift out unreliable data, to analyse and organise the material available, and to form a coherent argument orally or in writing. Students at the LSE learn to set and achieve personal goals, manage their time to meet deadlines, and have confidence speaking in public. In our knowledge-based economy, employers value these skills. Learning history is learning skills.

LSE history students continue to have one of the best rate of employability and earnings after graduation in the UK. The Complete University Guide 2020 places History at LSE 6th overall for job prospects. Guardian's University 2021 League Tables placed History at LSE in 2nd place for percentage of graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are in further study at professional or HE level, within fifteen months of graduation. The 2019 report on Graduate Outcomes Subject by Provider from the Department for Education places History at LSE top of the table with earnings superior to any other university in the UK with 2010-11 LSE graduates' median salary at £43,200 five years after graduating.

A report on relative labour market returns, also from the Department for Education, which calculated the difference in earnings by subject and university choice throughout Britain five years after graduation, ranked History at LSE number 1 in June 2018. The report illustrates the average impact the different universities and subjects would have on the future income of an individual. History at LSE averaged a lifetime earnings boost of £14,000 for men and £15,000 for women when compared with studying history at any other university in the UK, including Oxford, St Andrews, Cambridge, KCL and UCL.

Browse data regarding graduate destinations for this programme

From CV workshops through to careers fairs, LSE offers lots of information and support to help you make that all-important step from education into work.

Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year and there are numerous workshops covering topics such as job hunting, managing interviews, writing a cover letter and using LinkedIn.

See LSE Careers for further details.