• Are you interested in how the economic crisis in the Eurozone affects the European Union’s position in the world? 
• And would you like to know how the EU responds to social and political instability in its own direct neighborhood? 
• Do you wonder how the EU relates to other global players? How it acts upon Russian involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, deals with transatlantic relations in post-Snowden times, or engages with political transformations in the Middle East and North Africa?
• Do you want to know how old and new external security threats (like migration, global warming, energy dependency, new wars) can prompt EU member states to get their act together?

The European Union in a Global Order programme provides you with a theoretical and empirical understanding of the EU’s external relations. It picks up where most EU focused graduate programmes stop, by combining the study of:

• the internal determination of the EU’s external relations  and actions (like the role of state and non-state actors in the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy, the actual decision-making process, its instruments),
• and the impact of global developments, challenges and threats on foreign policy-making at the European and Member State level. 

The European Union in a Global Order programme offers you a theoretically and methodologically pluralist and interdisciplinary programme. It examines cultural, economic, political and social processes of change at the regional and international level. It discusses and analyses the role of the EU in the world and asks what kind of power Europe exercises on a global scale. While focused on the EU’s external, international and foreign relations, it also interrogates political and economic processes.

Student profile

The programme is intensive and rigorous. You are expected to develop a capacity to work independently and in group settings. The programme is research-oriented, which implies that you develop and apply your theoretical and methodological skills in the framework of the research projects. Teaching and research projects are closely related to the ongoing research projects of the academic staff. 

Competencies

Upon completion of the Master,

• demonstrate originality in developing and applying ideas within a research context;
• apply knowledge as well as problem solving capacities in a specific topical area within the broader context of the field of European Foreign Relations;
• clearly communicate conclusions as well as the theoretical and methodological rationale underpinning these to a specialist and non-specialist academic audience in both speech and writing;
• utilise academic skills that allow you to continue studying beyond the Master’s level in a manner that is largely self-directed and autonomous.

Focus on research

The Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam is the largest in the Netherlands. As a result, a vast amount of knowledge and expertise is available on a wide range of topics. Lecturers in the European Union in a Global Order are all prominent researchers at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). The Master is research oriented, meaning that students have to conduct independent research in the framework of so-called research projects.

Research Master

For students interested in this field of study, we also offer a two-year Research Master’s programme in Social Sciences.

Degree certificate

European Union in a Global Order is a track of the accredited degree programme Political Science. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a legally accredited Master’s degree in Political Science and the title Master of Science (MSc).