Master in International Relations
Tallinn, Estonia
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 2,300 / per semester
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
To study International Relations in Tallinn is a unique experience, starting from our international faculty (from local scholars to visiting faculty from Canada, Finland, the USA, Germany and more) to realising that the programme sits where major global debates play out in practice: digital governance, hybrid threats, post-imperial transitions, European security, and the environmental pressures shaping the region. This creates a setting where theory and lived experience can be examined side by side.
The programme focuses on foreign and security policy (incl. the small-state perspectives) and regional cooperation in world politics. Provides in-depth knowledge of state relations, international organizations, and the role of non-state actors. But among this the programme offers flexibility in the framework of innovative traching methods to ensure that students are able to make the most of their education.
Who are we looking for?
- This programme is for students and professionals who want to rethink how global politics is studied and practised. It suits:
- Graduates in IR, political science, or related fields seeking to go beyond mainstream Western approaches.
- Practitioners in diplomacy, NGOs, international companies, or policy work looking for analytical tools to interpret global change.
- Prospective researchers preparing for doctoral study in critical security studies, relational or posthumanist approaches, feminist or decolonial IR, political anthropology, or planetary governance.
- Working professionals who need evening classes (16:30–20:00) to balance study with roles in research, advocacy, or civil society.
- We welcome applicants who want to understand how climate crisis, inequality, digitalisation, and geopolitical competition shape people’s lives – and who want the analytical tools to make sense of these connections.
Course outline
The Master’s in International Relations offers an in-depth understanding of the most pressing issues of world politics in a deeply relational way. Students will explore how diverse global, regional, and local processes, events, actors and forces interconnect, e.g., how colonial legacies impact the present world order, how wars, ecological crises, and rising inequality feed the polycrises we inhabit. Overall, the Master’s programme is divided into two larger sections: compulsory and elective sections.
Courses in the programme will enable the students to become prepared to analyse key challenges of world politics from diverse critical vantage points. Courses such as Academic Writing and Research Design and Qualitative Research Methods will provide the skills needed to write a successful master’s thesis and to have the needed writing and analysis skills after graduation. Other courses will provide the conceptual and theoretical foundation, and topic related expertise to thrive in varied IR careers (diplomacy, research, NGO, policymaking, etc). We offer courses as varied as: Climate Politics and Governance, Cyber Security and the Digital World, Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, Politics and Power of Resistance and Small States in the Changing World Order.