MA Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History

About the course

In a world of uncertainty and rapid change it is more important than ever to study why and how wars are fought. The University of Buckingham’s highly-regarded Master’s degree in Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History is based in London and provides students with an opportunity to pursue in-depth research into the topic of their choice under expert supervision.

The one-year (two years part time) programme starts in September with an ‘Induction and Research Skills Day’ and culminates, after a period of supervised research, with the submission of a dissertation. During their time of study, candidates are expected to attend both a series of evening seminars held at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, at which some of the most eminent names in the field present papers, and in-depth course Study Day at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. This series of talks examines a range of historical subjects as well as those issues affecting modern defence in all dimensions.

For serving members of the British Armed Forces (regardless of rank) there is a discount on fees of 20%.

A six-month-long variant of this course is also available to all those who have attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course (or its international equivalent).

Individual research topics are closely focused; but the approach of the course is to encourage students to investigate the interconnections between the country house’s multiple facets and roles, rather than to examine it in exclusively architectural-historical terms. Recent dissertations have surveyed, for example, the Baroque mural in country house decoration; the use of music in the country houses during the 1650s; and the professionalisation of the sale of country estates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The choice of subject area is ultimately the student’s own.

The Master’s degree can be taken either full-time and completed in a single academic year, or taken part-time and extended over two years. Although original research it the prime focus of the programme, there is also a strongly collegial aspect to the course, as all research students meet regularly throughout the year for a series of early-evening seminars by some of the most distinguished scholars working in the history of early-modern England. The seminars are held in the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall, London, SW1, and provide an opportunity for students to meet and debate with the visiting speaker. Each seminar is followed by a working dinner at which discussion continues. (The full seminar programme is given below.)

The MA is awarded solely on the basis of the dissertation (there are no ‘exams’), and the relationship between the student and supervisor is therefore at the heart of the course.
The maximum length for the MA dissertation in the School of Humanities is 25,000 words (or approximately 75 pages at line-spacing of 1.5), excluding notes and references. Student and supervisor meet regularly on a one-to-one basis to discuss, plan, and review the dissertation as it develops through the year.

The University of Buckingham MA programmes are intended to impart all the skills necessary for the student to work as an independent researcher and writer – skills that are valued by both academic and non-academic employers.

Tutorials and classes will normally take place at the University of Buckingham’s London offices at 51 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, WC1E 6HJ, very close to the British Museum.

View the Modern War Studies prospectus

DEFINING A SUBJECT FOR RESEARCH

Some students know from the outset the precise subject on which they intend to work. For most, however, the definition of a research proposal is usually a gradual process, with the student starting with a general area of interest, and then focusing on a more closely defined topic as a result of further reading and consultation, usually with the Course Director. Most students do not arrive at the final title of their dissertation until towards the end of the first Term, before Christmas.

For Master’s degree candidates, the core of the programme is the writing, under supervision, of the dissertation on a subject chosen by the student in the field of Modern War Studies. Subject to approval by the Course Director, the topic to be examined in the dissertation can address any aspect of warfare since 1945, and the precise topic is usually formulated in a process of discussion with the Course Director and the student’s supervisor. Research does not have to be confined to British-related subjects. Some of the themes which students may wish to examine include: political decision making; alliances; warfare and faith; the impact of critical strategic thinkers; intelligence gathering; the impact of technology on the battlefield; the development of doctrine; military-media relations; leadership; command and control; the application of force at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war on land, sea and air; and the influence of war on non-combatants, politics, society, economies and cultures.

Current dissertation titles in progress include:

• Millennials and Western Militaries: Leadership Challenges for Generational Integration, 2002 to Present
• Justifying War: George Bush Jr, Tony Blair and the Decision to Invade Iraq, 2003
• The Role, Performance and Influence of the Canadian Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV III) in Afghanistan, 2001-2014
• The Art of Precision: Strategic Bombing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
• Leading the Digital War: Army Officer Competencies and Hyper-Warfare
• Strategy, Power and Change: The Fall of the Dutch East Indies, 1945-1950
• Contextual Adaptation: the US Maneouvrist Approach since 1991
• Moral Courage: Western Armies and the Application of Intelligent Disobedience, 1969-1982
• Poison Chalice: The Transition of the Nigerian Armed Forces since 2010
• Ultimate Impact: Israeli Airpower during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and its Influence on NATO
• Tomorrow’s Army Today: The British Army Officer Recruitment Pipeline in the Twenty-First Century
• Ethics and the Air War Against the Islamic State: The RAF’s Airstrikes During Operation Shader, December 2015
• Post -War Air-Land Integration and the Evolution of Doctrine, 1960-1990
• A General’s Prestige: Douglas MacArthur’s Character and Leadership Styles During the Korean War, 1950-53
• Quo Vadis Bundeswehr? Re-Appraising the Post-Cold War History of the German Armed Forces from a Perspective of Collective and National Defence, 1989-2020

The Course Director, Professor Lloyd Clark, is available to offer advice to prospective students who would like to discuss possible subjects for their research before they apply. He can be reached directly by email at lloyd.clark@buckingham.ac.uk

RESEARCH SEMINARS AND DINING

Private research and supervisions are complemented by a rich programme of seminars which give students direct access to some of the United Kingdom’s most distinguished figures in the worlds of defence, military history, and war studies. The seminar meets at the Army and Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, St James’s, London SW1Y 5JN (see below for further details).

All seminars begin at 6:00 pm with the talk by the visiting speaker, and this is followed by a question session and discussion. There is then a short break for pre-dinner drinks and the group reconvenes for a three-course dinner with wine, during which the historical discussion continues. Proceedings usually end at 10 pm. The programme aims not only to offer a stimulating intellectual experience, but one which is an enjoyable sociable experience as well. The cost of the dinners is included in the tuition fees.

The seminars are of course academic events, with a talk by a visiting expert; but they also have a social dimension, bringing research students and senior scholars together to discuss matters of common interest in an informal and congenial atmosphere.

SEMINAR DATES AND VENUES FOR 2024-25

The location, unless otherwise stated, is the Army and Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, St James’s, London SW1Y 5JN.

Saturday 28 September 2024,10 am-4 pm
Course Induction Day at the University of Buckingham’s London offices, 51 Gower Street, London WC1E

23 October 2024
John Foreman CBE ‘The UK Defence Attaché’s View from Moscow, 2019-22’ (Former Defence Attaché in Kyiv and Moscow)

Monday 4 November 2024, 10 am-5 pm
Faculty Induction Day and Introduction to Research Skills at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BE

20 November 2024
Admiral the Lord West ‘The UK’s Nuclear Endeavours since 1940’ (Former First Sea Lord and Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office)

19 February 2025
General Sir Nick Carter ‘British Defence in Dangerous Times: An Assessment’ (Former Chief of the Defence Staff)

19 March 2025
Dr Thomas Colley ‘New Wars: How Governments are Battling to Shape Reality’ (Department of War Studies, King’s College London)

9 April 2025
Professor Lloyd Clark ‘Mission Command and Warfighting: Rethinking Old Ideas’ (Professorial Research Fellow in Modern War Studies, The University of Buckingham)

23 April 2025
Dr Daniel Packham ‘Compulsory Military Service in the Modern Age: Selective Conscription in the Nordics’ (Swedish Defence University)

STUDY DAY AT THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY SANDHURST

The speaker programme concludes with a Study Day at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey GU15 4PQ, on Saturday 17 May 2025. The programme includes:

Professor Tom Dyson: ‘A Revolution in Military Lesson Learning? Good Practices from NATO and Ukraine’ (Royal Holloway College, University of London)

Dr Matthew Powell: ‘The Rise of Multi-National Defence Procurement in the 21st Century’ (RAF College Cranwell and University of Portsmouth)

Dr Jonathan Carroll: ‘Challenging our Assumptions: The Spectre of Somalia in the 1990s’ (Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst)

WO1 Sarah Cox: In conversation with Professor Lloyd Clark (Command Sergeant Major, Home Command)

STUDY PERIOD

The usual period of Master’s degree research is one year for the those who engage in full-time study. Part-time study is also available, with students completing the dissertation in two years.

RESEARCH SUPERVISION

Every Master’s student in School of Humanities is supported by two supervisors. There is a First (or Principal) Supervisor, who is the student’s regular guide during his or her research, and with whom the student meets regularly throughout the year. There is also a Second Supervisor, whom the student may consult on a more limited basis where a ‘second opinion’ on a particular draft chapter may be helpful. Full-time students see their supervisor for one-to-one supervisions not less than twice a term.

The University has an extensive group of scholars available to undertake supervision in the fields Modern War Studies, including:

Dr Andrew Boyd – Twentieth-century naval history and new security challenges

Dr Jonathan Carroll – The history of US Armed Forces; the Vietnam War; the War on Terror

Professor Lloyd Clark – History of the British Army; military transition and change; lesson learning; leadership and command

Dr Thomas Colley – War and the media; the Russia-Ukraine War

Dr Aaron Edwards – Insurgency and COIN; terrorism

Dr Andrew Lownie – Modern British history and espionage

Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice – War and human rights law

Dr Matthew Powell – The history and application of air power; defence procurement

Dr Ife Oakafor-Yarwood – Multidisciplinary approaches to security, the environment and maritime governance in Africa

Dr Gareth Price – Strategy, armed forces, politics and economics in south Asia

Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Christopher Pugsley – The military history of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces

Major General (retd) William Robbins – Command, leadership and organisational culture.

Professor Matthias Strohn – History of European armies; fighting methods; doctrine and command, counter-insurgency.

Dr Andrew Tchie – Security, stabilisation and peace operations in Africa

Dr Paddy Walker – Future warfare rules; military ethics; military technology

ASSOCIATE STUDENTS

For those who wish to attend the seminars and to join the post-seminar dinners with the visiting speakers, it is possible to join the programme as an Associate Student (what is known as an Audit Student in the United States). Associate Students do not enrol for the MA and do not have to submit any written work, but they are otherwise full members of the seminar and free to take part in discussion. There is also a substantially reduced fee.

For further information, please contact humanitiespg-admissions@buckingham.ac.uk

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY

“The Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History MA (Research) combines engaging course sessions with a focus on one’s own research project. There are copious opportunities to engage with expert guest speakers drawn from academia, the armed forces and the defence sector. Equally important are the academic advisors and course staff, who are constantly available to provide their guidance and input. Due to the excellent study support, I would highly recommend the programme to anyone who wants to improve their academic skills, advance their career, or simply explore key topics in this amazingly broad field.” – Nicolas Leixner, MA student

“I am currently a final year student on the Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History PhD programme, but I started my journey on the MA (Research) course which provided me with the skills to conduct independent research. Expert supervision and one-to-one tutorials developed my ability to developing thinking skills, refine my knowledge and to develop my project in a coherent manner. The course seminars also gave me the opportunity to speak with leading figures in the field, including former British Chief of Defence Staff, General the Lord Richards. The opportunity to interact with the experts whose books I had read and whose achievements are of historical and academic significance, was a fascinating experience and improved by ability analyse important issues. These skills not only led to me gaining an MA, but also helped me as a serving officer and allowed me to operate more confidently in multinational and inter agency environments while encouraging me to write three small books. The programme is highly recommended.” – Mohamed Marwa, MA 2019 and currently on the PhD Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History programme

Approved by MOD for Enhanced Learning Credits.

Provider ID 1460