MA Air, Space and Cyber Power Studies

War is an event that is both prevalent and shocking in the modern world. It is the only activity during which it is believed to not only be acceptable, but necessary to take actions that in every other context are believed unacceptable (or unconscionable): seeking to kill other people. It reveals a tension between expectations of civility and rational discourse as tools of conflict resolution and the reality that, for many, war remains a legitimate tool for states (and non-state actors?) in certain circumstances. This tension has meant that thinkers have sought to place limitations on when wars can be undertaken and what should be permitted during wars. You will utilise elements of just war theory to examine the fighting of wars/conflicts and considers what the theory suggests is, and is not, permissible in warfare and whether this has any real impact on modern warfare. You will test the usefulness and applicability of theoretical perspectives by examining them in relation to conflict case studies such as Sri Lanka, Syria, Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia. You will use the skills developed to build on these theoretical and empirical discussions to consider why, and when, conflicts may begin, develop and end.

The research project allows you to explore your interests built within the programme of study in a creative and rigorous manner to communicate your ideas and conclusions. We will support you in conducting innovative, nuanced, and original research thinking laterally across relevant aspect of your programme of study. You will utilise the skills and knowledge built from the taught modules and assessments to inform your independently chosen topic in consultation with an appropriate supervisor. Thereby, demonstrating that you have scaffolded and objectively critiqued your previous knowledge throughout the course before autonomously embarking on the research project with an ethical approach and influential contribution to the field. You will work under the supervision of an appropriate expert and the module leader to develop your topic and format of effective communication through guided curiosity. In turn, you will have an in-depth – independent - research project to add to your portfolio of work developed throughout the course.

The ‘final frontier’ sits at the heart of international security and everyday life. Once only the purview of superpower states and closely aligned great powers, outer space has become a playground for privateers. Reducing costs and barriers to access has seen a greater number of middle and great powers as well as companies act in space. The importance of space infrastructure to both civil and military pursuits has increased space infrastructure to being part of our Critical National Infrastructure be our nation physically reach space or not meaning Astropolitics has become part of daily politics. You will investigate how the rapid diversification of actors in space has increased political tensions as treaties and norms are stretched and challenged around the actual and perception of a militarisation of space. You will reflect on how Astropolitics is increasingly required for resilience in daily activities on Earth from navigation to transactions considering space specific challenges including debris, overcrowding, and space weather critically evaluating the approaches of various actors, state and private, towards space. By considering these challenges, you will become an informed analysts of responsible power and competition in outer space in preparation for careers in sectors impacted by space activities.

Leadership, Command & Combat explores the development of modern military doctrine through an exploration of the 'top-down' perspective on decision-making in both the First World War and Second World War as well as providing a fascinating context on the shifting realities of the battlefield. The course focuses on the British Army between 1914 and the present day although there will also be opportunity to compare and contrast with other national armies. Students will be given an opportunity to delve into primary documents as well as engage with cutting-edge scholarship and debates in the field.

You will critically engage in cyber Statecraft debates including: whether Offensive Cyber Operations (OCOs), or cyber warfare, are best understood as a military activity, to which a range of military responses are appropriate; a continuation of intelligence activities; or, as a non-military activity comparable to economic sanctions or the use of soft power. Increasingly, cyberspace capabilities are utilised below the threshold of war with plausible deniability (or at least with problems in attribution). Thereby you will tackle questions around intelligence contests in cyberspace, an era of ‘unpeace’, alongside evolving forms of strategic competition where nations are neither at peace nor war, and where smaller nations, non-state actors, and private companies have greater power on the world stage. You will navigate the debates across war studies and international security to understand power exertion in cyberspace as a multiplier in competition, crisis and conflict but in peacetime deterrence and coercion. You will critically assess the challenges for being a responsible cyber power both offensively and defensively as well as in building cyber capabilities, or capacity building. In turn, you will become an informed analysts on responsible cyber statecraft, recognising and critically engaging in both state and private power deployment in cyberspace.

In this module we will study some of the ideas which have underpinned the conduct of war and the professional formulation of military and naval doctrine at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. Our aim here is to use primary and secondary historical resources to explore how theory shaped the underlying policy, strategic planning and operational procedures in various campaigns throughout modern military history.

This module charts the evolution of military technologies in war c.1850 to 1945. Do superior weapons win wars? How does military theory apply to cutting edge technology in war? Is there such a thing as a 'wonder weapon'? You will address these questions and more throughout the next 12 weeks. You will examine a wide range of sources from contemporary historical documents to modern scholarship in leading journals, as we chart weapons technology from the era of the smoothbore cannon to the atomic bomb.