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Middle East and Central Asian Security Studies

Programme Coordinator: Professor Raymond Hinnebusch

The Masters Degree in Middle East and Central Asian Security Studies involves a taught component of four modules and a final 15,000-word dissertation IR5099 (PDF, 201 KB).  Established in 2003 by Dr Sally N. Cummings and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch, it runs over 12 months commencing in September.

There is a pressing need for analysts who combine mastery of analytical tools with in-depth familiarity with the culture of the geographic area of the Middle East and Central Asia. These regions have become central to contemporary security studies in that they are both the location of substantial world oil reserves and of its most intractable conflicts that have been viewed as generating the threat of international terrorism, clash of civilizations and are proposed to be the object of democratization experiments. 

The course builds on the University of St. Andrews' existing and long-standing research expertise in these regions, and will be taught by internationally recognized scholars who already enjoy an institutional history of collaboration. These scholars are primarily located in the School of International Relations and in association with the Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies (MECACS) which is co-sponsored with the School of History.

The program normally expects all students to acquire expertise in both the areas studied in the program, that is, the Middle East and Central Asia. However, students who wish to specialize in only one of the areas may request exemption from this requirement from the course co-ordinator, provided they take an appropriate language as part of their program and there are enough options in their region available. 

The programme also usually offers the option to join at least one fieldtrip visit to one of the two regions. The Central Asian fieldtrip normally occurs in November and a supervised trip attends seminars at international organizations and universities in the region, as well as interacting with students of Central Asia. In the second semester over the past three years students have been accompanied by two members of staff on a fieldtrip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In future years, this trip may be superceded by alternative trips to a Middle East country but it is not yet certain when this will go ahead.

Students may choose a language track in which they take language tuition in Arabic or Modern Persian. (Students may also arrange or intensive language summer school at Indiana University with which it has an agreement in other languages, such as Azeri, Kazakh, Turkmen, Tajik, Pashto, Uyghur, and Georgian; this is an add on separately arranged with Indiana University and not a part of St Andrew’s program, per se.). 

More detailed requirements for the MLitt and Postgraduate Diploma are set out in the relevant module handbooks. Students may also apply to enter the programme as doctoral research candidates. In this case in their first year they pursue a tailored course of study that combines both substantive and methodology options. For further information on admission as a Research Student view the prospective students webpage.

MECASS Modules 2012-13

In the first two semesters as part of your coursework you are required to take FOUR modules, of which three are compulsory, leaving room for a fourth optional module. These modules are available at the time of writing.

Semester One:

You will take the following module:

and you choose one option from the following (Please note that we cannot guaranteethat all optional modules will always be offered in a given year. Nor can we guarantee admittance to any given module. All module enrolments are capped to guarantee small groups; however, we make every effort to accommodate your wishes and most students can expect to be satisfied with their choices):

 

Semester Two:

You will take the two following modules:

Language Track

Those doing the language track may choose from:

  • AR5237 Beginning Arabic for Postgraduates
  • AR5023 Advanced Arabic for Postgraduates
Please note that optional choices are confirmed only at the start of the academic year. It may also be possible to select an optional module outwith the programme provided the MECASS Director agrees that it is congruent with the goals of the degree to impart expertise in the two regions of the degree.