#4
optional module
15 credits
Since the Second World War, matters of defence, intelligence, and security in the British state have become increasingly prime ministerial. This overload is evident in the roles, responsibilities, and increasingly the amount of time that Prime Ministers necessarily devote to securing the nation. The purpose of this class is to understand how we have arrived at this present moment, and to analyse what the causes and their various effects of this fundamental development of prime ministerial power are.
This module will cover the institutions through which defence, intelligence, and security are developed and administered in government. Its focus is necessarily broad. By mirroring the different issues and organs of state with which Prime Ministers carry out their responsibilities for national security, students will be challenged to think about the links between conventional and non-conventional threats that government is obliged to defend the nation against. This module will thus focus on this relationship between policy, organisation, and decision-making by prime ministers since 1945.
Each week, this module will cover a specific area of concern to UK national security. Subject areas include, for example, Crisis Management, UK-US Relations, the Strategic Nuclear Deterrent, Cyber Security, and more.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the module, students will have:
- Confidence in understanding Prime Ministerial involvement in decision making regarding foreign policy, defence and security.
- Recognition of the complexities of British Foreign Policy and the relationship between the Prime Minister and the defence and security apparatus.
- A background knowledge of the history of British Foreign policies since 1945.
- A detailed knowledge of moments such as the creation of the overarching ministry of defence in 1964 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994.
Teaching team
Dr Can Gokcen
Professor Lord Simon Case
*Plus, special guest practitioners