Program Overview

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Master in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies

The Master in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies is an official qualification with an academic and interdisciplinary orientation aimed at training specialists to understand and analyze the main trends, conflicts, and challenges of contemporary world politics and international relations from a spatial, critical, and integrative approach.

Graduate School of Economics and Political Science

The Master is directed by Prof. Dr. Jacobo García Álvarez and Prof. Dr. Manuel Hidalgo Trenado. The language of instruction is English, and attendance is on-campus. The program consists of 90 ECTS credits and is located on the Madrid - Puerta de Toledo campus.

Applications

Applications are currently open, with 40 places available.

Departments

The Master involves the following departments:

• Social Sciences Department
• Humanities: History, Geography and Art Department
• International Law, Ecclesiastical Law and Philosophy of Law Department

Teaching Modalities

For the 26/27 academic year, the first year will be on-campus, and the second year will be online, except for internships.

Program Description

The Master aims to provide solid and rigorous theoretical and methodological tools, as well as in-depth knowledge of global and regional geopolitics and strategic studies. On completing the Master, students will be qualified to work as analysts in academia or in sectors that require expertise and skills in international relations.

Career Opportunities

Graduates will have a wide range of professional opportunities, including:

• Journalists and communication professionals specialized in international affairs
• Researchers in think tanks oriented to international, geopolitical, and strategic affairs
• Civil servants in public organizations in the fields of diplomacy, strategic intelligence, and national and international defense and security
• Employees of international organizations related to security and defense policy, international cooperation, and development
• Analysts in companies and institutions specialized in political, economic, and risk assessment at the international level

Curriculum

The curriculum is divided into two years, with compulsory and elective courses.

Year 1 - Semester 1

• Introduction to Global Geopolitics
  • Fundamentals of Geopolitics: concepts, theories, and territories (6 ECTS)
  • Strategic studies, security, and defense (6 ECTS)
  • Geoeconomics, globalization, and development (6 ECTS)
• Methods and Techniques of Geopolitical and Strategic Analysis
  • Methods of geopolitical and strategic analysis (6 ECTS)
  • Workshop on mapping and graphical representations (3 ECTS)
  • Workshop on Geopolitical and Strategic Reports (3 ECTS)

Year 1 - Semester 2

• World Regional Geopolitics
  • Electives (choose 3):
    • Geopolitics of Europe (6 ECTS)
    • Geopolitics of the Americas (6 ECTS)
    • Geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa (6 ECTS)
    • Geopolitics of Spain and its neighboring areas (6 ECTS)
• Conflicts, Problems, and Geopolitical Challenges of Today's World
  • First term: choose 2
    • International Terrorism (3 ECTS)
    • Population, international migrations, and geopolitics (3 ECTS)
    • International Law of territories (3 ECTS)
  • Second term: choose 2
    • Geopolitics of the environment and natural resources (3 ECTS)
    • Borders, nationalisms, and identities (3 ECTS)
    • Organized crime and cyber threats (3 ECTS)

Year 2 - Semester 1

• General Subjects
  • Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific (6 ECTS)
• Option A or Option B
  • Option A:
    • Geopolitics of Russia and the Post-Soviet Space (6 ECTS)
    • World regional geopolitics
  • Option B:
    • Internships (12 ECTS)
• Master's Thesis (12 ECTS)

Faculty

The Master's program brings together an outstanding group of specialists, including:

• UC3M Faculty:
  • Domínguez de Olázabal, Itxaso
  • Gamir Orueta, Agustín
  • García Álvarez, Jacobo
  • Guerrero Lozano, Vanesa
  • Hidalgo Trenado, Manuel
  • Manero Salvador, Ana
  • Manuel Valdés, Carlos
  • Puente Lozano, Paloma
  • Sojka, Aleksandra
  • Vacas Fernández, Félix
  • Zidek, Nikolina
• External Faculty:
  • Borreguero Sancho, Eva
  • Calvo Albero, José Luis
  • Camacho Urtiaga, Ana
  • Cano Linares, Ángeles
  • Del Moral Torres, Anselmo
  • Díaz Galán, Elena Carolina
  • Durán Martín, José
  • Freres, Christian
  • Fuente Cobo, Ignacio
  • Marcu, Silvia
  • Menene Oluym Anguesomo, Reiginaldo
  • Palacio Oteyza, Vicente
  • Pardo de Santallana, José María
  • Pontijas Calderón, José Luis
  • Rodrigo López, Tomasa
  • Romanillos Arroyo, Gustavo
  • Santos Sánchez, Cristina
  • Seijo, Francisco

Admission

To be admitted to the Master in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies, candidates must hold a degree issued by a higher education institution in Spain or in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) that gives access to Masters level studies in the issuing country.

Admission Criteria

Admission to the program will be based on the decision of the Masters Academic Committee, which will assess the potential of each candidate based on the following criteria:

• Academic record of the students bachelors degree (50%)
• Level of English language higher than at least the minimum required to gain access to the Master (B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference) (10%)
• Professional experience (10%)
• Qualifications obtained in core subjects to take the Master (10%)
• Motivation, interest, and letters of recommendation (10%)
• Other (10%)

Language Requirements

Check the general language requirements required to study a Masters at UC3M, depending on whether it is in Spanish, English, or bilingual.

Enrollment

Tuition fees for EU students are 130/ECTS, and for non-EU students, they are 195/ECTS.

Scholarships

A maximum of 11 grants have been announced for the academic year to cover the net tuition fees for students admitted to the Master's program, with each grant being 6,000.

Partnerships

The UC3M has signed collaboration agreements for internships with various entities and institutions, including the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación, Centro de Inteligencia contra el Terrorismo y el Crimen Organizado, and others.