Research programs in international relations at Monash are designed to enable students in politics or related disciplines to explore, at an advanced level, the many issues and questions raised by the rapidly changing nature of contemporary world politics:
- How are security issues to be understood in a fluid international system?
- How far can the consideration of ethical, normative and cultural issues contribute to the understanding of politics across state boundaries?
- How is globalisation affecting the sovereignty of states and the economic policies which governments pursue at home and abroad?
- What is the significance of issues such as human rights and the environment in contemporary international politics?
- What kind of world order, or disorder, is emerging in the aftermath of the declaration of a 'war on terror'?
The graduate coursework programs analyse these and related questions with particular attention to relationships among major powers, developments in Australia's region and the principal theoretical approaches in international relations. The programs are particularly suitable for students interested in pursuing careers in such areas as government, diplomacy, business, NGOs, teaching and journalism.
Politics staff are active researchers and in 2008 alone, published four books, six book chapters and twelve journal articles. They are also deeply engaged in public debate and government policy; three politics staff were selected in 2008 for the national 2020 Summit in Canberra. Monash politics staff are also actively sought by the Australian and international media for expert commentary and regularly address major forums, such as the Australian Institute of International Affairs, dealing with issues of major public interest. For students who wish to undertake research in international relations at masters or doctoral level, the school is able to provide supervision in a wide variety of sub-fields, including, but not limited to:
- arms control and strategic studies
- Australian foreign policy
- ethics and international relations
- globalisation
- international history
- international law
- international political economy
- international relations in East,Southeast and South Asia
- international relations theory
- nationalism
- Russia and the former Soviet Union
- the European Union, NATO and transatlantic security
- the Middle East
- the 'war on terror'
- US foreign policy.
