Middle East, Caucasus 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 Dissertation Booklet (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/Caucasus. 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). In addition, some are offered in the Schools of History and of Modern Languages.
The program normally expects all students to acquire expertise in both the areas studied in the program, that is, the Middle East and also Central Asia and the Caucasus, taken together as parts of the ex-soviet space. Besides a core course examining security themes comparatively in the two regions, students must normally take at least one module in the Middle East, and one in the Central Asia/Caucasus areas. However, students who wish to specialize in only one of the areas may instead take the MECASS Language degree in which they take the appropriate language as part of their program. With the approval of the MECASS coordinator students may also opt to take ONE of their four modules outside the MECASS program, normally in one of the other M Litt programs in the School of International Relations.
The programme sometimes offers the option to join at least one fieldtrip visit to one of the two regions. The Central Asian fieldtrip is a supervised trip in which students normally attends seminars at international organizations and universities in the region, as well as interacting with students of Central Asia. In the second semester in past years students have been accompanied by two members of staff on a fieldtrip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This field trip has been suspended and may in future years be superceded by alternative trips to a Middle East country but it is not yet certain when this will go ahead.
Students may normally chose a language track in which they take language tuition in Arabic, Modern Persian or Russian (because these depend on the cooperation of the Schools of History and of Modern Languages, no specific module can be guaranteed to run, but over many years at least introductory Arabic and Persian have been available and we have now made arrangements for access to Russian language provision. (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 2013-14
In the first two semesters as part of your coursework you are required to take FOUR taught modules.
Semester One:
All students take the following core module:
- IR5501: Core in Middle Eastern and Central Asian Security Studies
In addition, you will take one module in either the Middle East or the Central Asia/Caucasus regions, normally from one of the following (although the precise modules available will vary by year).
- IR5520: International Relations of the Modern Middle East
- IR5518 Conflict in the Middle East
- IR5029 Conflict and Peace in Post-communist Eurasia
- IR5510: Central Asia in Global Politics
Semester Two:
You will take two from the following modules:
IR5029, IR5502, IR5510, IR5515, IR5518, IR5519, IR5520, IR5522, IR5523, IR5525, IR5526, MH5111 (with the qualification that, of your four modules, at least one must be selected from each of the two regions (Middle East and Central Asia/Caucasus).
Please note that, with the exception of the core module (IR5501), the precise modules on offer vary by year, that we cannot guarantee any given module will be offered in a particular year and that those offered in a given year are confirmed only at the start of the academic year. It will also be confirmed in advance in which semester each module is being taught, as this can vary each year. If a module is offered in one semester, it will not be offered in the other semester of the same academic year. It may also be possible to select a 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.
Language Track
Those doing the language track will, in place of one of the above modules, take 30-40 credits from a language, chosen from Russian (RU), Arabic (AR) or Persian (PR) language modules at the level appropriate to the students level of proficiency. Language modules normally run year long.
Please address enquiries to the postgraduate secretary irpg@st-andrews.ac.uk.
