Security Futures

Module title	Security Futures
Module code	POLM240
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff	Dr David Blagden (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	25

Module description

This module examines a selection of key contemporary and future security threats in order to help you understand the complexity of strategizing in the twenty-first century. The module will address a selection of the following topics: environmental security, human security, health security, geopolitics, great power competition, and defence, terrorism, migration, cyber and AI, law and ethics.

Module aims - intentions of the module

By the end of this module you will have developed an understanding of some of the critical security issues in the contemporary world. In each section, the course will introduce you to the leading literature on the specific security issue. you will be able to criticise this literature in order to come to an independent judgement of the security threats under discussion and to recognise their strategic significance.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Understand the relevant security literature and assess its merits
2. Make reasoned and informed judgements on the way security threats influence strategic decision-making

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. Understand the major security threats today
4. Understand the major contemporary literature on those threats

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Read and absorb academic arguments
6. Produce refined critical analyses

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some of the following topics:

1: What is security?

2: Environmental Security

3: Human Security

4: Geopolitics, great power competition, war

5: Migration

6: Cyber and AI

7: Terrorism

8: Ethics and Law

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	278	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	22	11 x 2 hour per week Seminars: Small group work, presentations, discussion
Guided Independent Study	278	Reading, reflection, essay writing, presentation preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay outline	750 words	1-6	Written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 1	40	2000 words	1-6	Written
Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 2	60	3000 words	1-6	Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 1	Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 1 (2000 words) (40%)	1-6	August-Sept
Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 2	Applied Strategy Portfolio Part 2 (3000 words) (60%)	1-6	August-Sept

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e., a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Library resources:
Buzan, B. (1991) People, States & Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. 2nd edn. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Homer-Dixon, T. (1999) Environment, Scarcity, and Violence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Dalby, S. (2009) Security and Environmental Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1994) Human Development Report 1994. New York: Oxford University Press.

MacFarlane, S. N. and Khong, Y. F. (2006) Human Security and the UN: A Critical History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2014) The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. Updated edn. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Waltz, K. N. (2001) Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis. Rev. edn. New York: Columbia University Press.

Castles, S., de Haas, H. and Miller, M. (2013) The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. 5th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Betts, A. and Collier, P. (2017)

Clarke, R. A. and Knake, R. K. (2012) Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It. New York: Ecco.

Singer, P. W. and Friedman, A. (2014) Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hoffman, B. (2017) Inside Terrorism. 3rd edn. New York: Columbia University Press.
Orend, B. (2006) The Morality of War. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press.

Bass, G. J. (2008) Freedom’s Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention. New York: Knopf.

Key words search

Security, Security Threats, Environment, Human, Migration, Cyber, AI, Strategy

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	03/07/2025