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PhD in Diplomacy & Geopolitics

Earned

PhD Dregree

Duration

3 Years

The PhD in Diplomacy & Geopolitics is a three-year, full-time doctoral program designed to prepare researchers, policy professionals, diplomats, international advisers, and institutional leaders to analyse and influence complex global affairs.


The program combines advanced study in international relations, diplomatic practice, geopolitics, international law, political economy, security studies, regional affairs, and strategic foresight. Its core purpose is the production of an original contribution to knowledge through a rigorously supervised doctoral research project.


The proposed structure is aligned with European doctoral education principles, including research excellence, interdisciplinary training, international networking, transferable skills, exposure to non-academic employment sectors, and quality assurance. These principles are particularly relevant to a program intended to serve both academic and policy-oriented careers.


A graduate of the PhD in Diplomacy & Geopolitics should be able to move fluently between scholarship, policy, and practice: producing original research, interpreting complex geopolitical developments, advising decision-makers, negotiating across cultures and institutions, and communicating responsibly with diverse audiences. The program should therefore define success not only by thesis completion, but also by research quality, ethical conduct, international engagement, public value, and sustainable career development.

 

Program Objectives

  • The program aims to enable doctoral candidates to:
  • Develop original, theoretically informed research in diplomacy and geopolitics.
  • Analyse global power relations, conflict dynamics, institutions, and transnational challenges.
  • Connect academic research with diplomatic practice, foreign-policy decision-making, and international governance.
  • Use advanced qualitative, quantitative, comparative, historical, digital, and mixed research methods.
  • Conduct ethically responsible research in politically sensitive and culturally diverse environments.
  • Communicate complex findings to academic, governmental, international, business, media, and civil-society audiences.
  • Develop professional capabilities for careers in academia, diplomacy, international organisations, government, think tanks, NGOs, business, and strategic consultancy.
  • Participate effectively in international networks and interdisciplinary research collaborations.

Module Descriptions

Foundations of Diplomacy and Geopolitical Analysis
Introduces the core concepts, traditions, debates, and analytical frameworks used to study diplomacy and geopolitics. Topics include power, sovereignty, territory, borders, influence, strategic culture, statecraft, globalisation, and contested orders.


Advanced International Relations Theory
Examines realism, liberalism, constructivism, English School theory, critical theory, postcolonial approaches, feminist international relations, practice theory, and geopolitical approaches.


History and Evolution of Diplomatic Practice
Studies bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, summitry, mediation, consular affairs, public diplomacy, digital diplomacy, economic diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, and science diplomacy.


International Law, Institutions, and Global Governance
Covers treaty law, use of force, international organisations, human rights, humanitarian law, international criminal justice, global regimes, sanctions, dispute settlement, and the legal dimensions of foreign policy.


Research Design in International Affairs
Develops research questions, conceptual frameworks, literature reviews, hypothesis development, case selection, process tracing, comparative analysis, archival research, and research feasibility assessment.


Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Provides training in interviews, elite interviewing, discourse analysis, content analysis, comparative historical analysis, survey research, statistical reasoning, geospatial analysis, network analysis, and mixed-methods design.


Academic Writing, Research Integrity, and Open Science
Addresses scholarly writing, citation, publication ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, data management, reproducibility, research transparency, artificial intelligence in research, and responsible dissemination.


Doctoral Research Seminar
Candidates present their emerging research interests, literature reviews, methodological choices, and preliminary research proposals to peers and faculty.

Professional Placement or Policy Lab

  • The policy lab or placement connects doctoral research with real-world decision-making. Candidates may work with:
  • Ministries of foreign affairs
  • Embassies and consulates
  • European Union institutions
  • International organisations
  • Think tanks and research institutes
  • NGOs and humanitarian organisations
  • International law firms
  • Trade, energy, or technology companies
  • Strategic-communications or geopolitical-risk consultancies
  • Universities and policy schools
  • External relations roles commonly involve negotiations, multilateral agreements, political reporting, representation, briefing senior decision-makers, and cooperation with diplomatic services and international institutions. These functions should be explicitly reflected in the program’s applied training.

Career and Professional Development Areas

  • The program should prepare candidates for careers in both academic and non-academic sectors. European doctoral training guidance emphasises transferable skills, international networking, interdisciplinary opportunities, quality assurance, and exposure to employment sectors beyond universities.
  • Academic and research careers
  • Diplomacy and public service
  • University lecturer or assistant professor.
  • Postdoctoral researcher.
  • Research fellow in international relations or political science.
  • Director or coordinator of an international-affairs research centre.
  • Doctoral program or higher-education administrator.
  • Editor, reviewer, or academic publishing specialist.
  • Research-policy or knowledge-exchange professional.

Professional development activities

  • Academic publishing and journal strategy.
  • Grant writing and research funding.
  • Research leadership and project management.
  • Teaching and assessment in higher education.
  • Doctoral supervision.
  • Conference organisation.
  • Open science and research-impact planning.
  • Academic career planning and international networking.
  • Diplomat or foreign-service officer.
  • Political affairs officer.
  • Policy adviser.
  • International-relations officer.
  • Multilateral affairs specialist.
  • Embassy or consular official.
  • EU external-relations officer.
  • International cooperation or development officer.
  • National-security or strategic-policy analyst.
  • Parliamentary or ministerial adviser.

 

Professional development activities

  • Diplomatic writing and briefing.
  • Negotiation and mediation.
  • Protocol and representation.
  • Intercultural communication.
  • Crisis diplomacy and consular response.
  • Foreign-policy analysis.
  • Multilateral negotiation simulations.
  • Public diplomacy and strategic communication.
  • Language development, particularly English, French, Spanish, Arabic, or another strategically relevant language.
  • International organisations and NGOs
  • Think tanks and policy institutes
  • Programme officer.
  • Political affairs officer.
  • Peacebuilding or conflict-prevention specialist.
  • Human-rights policy adviser.
  • Humanitarian affairs officer.
  • Migration and refugee-policy specialist.
  • Development-policy analyst.
  • Monitoring, evaluation, and learning specialist.
  • International partnerships manager.
  • Governance and institutional-reform adviser.
  • Senior research analyst.
  • Geopolitical-risk researcher.
  • Foreign-policy analyst.
  • Conflict and peace researcher.
  • Strategic-foresight specialist.
  • Policy-briefing and public-affairs adviser.
  • Research director.
  • Expert commentator or public-intellectual contributor.

Strategic foresight training is especially relevant because it develops capabilities in framing problems, scanning signals of change, generating alternative futures, visioning, and designing responses with stakeholders. 

  • Business and professional services
  • Media, communication, and public engagement
  • Geopolitical-risk consultant.
  • Country-risk analyst.
  • Government-affairs manager.
  • International business and market-entry adviser.
  • Trade-policy specialist.
  • Energy or resource diplomacy adviser.
  • Sanctions and compliance analyst.
  • Corporate security or resilience specialist.
  • International arbitration or public international law researcher.
  • ESG, sustainability, and political-risk adviser.
  • International-affairs journalist.
  • Foreign-policy commentator.
  • Strategic-communications adviser.
  • Public diplomacy specialist.
  • Political speechwriter.
  • International news researcher.
  • Disinformation and information-integrity analyst.
  • Public engagement or science-diplomacy officer.
  • Education and institutional leadership
  • Professional development framework

Given the program’s interdisciplinary profile, graduates may also work in:

  • International higher-education administration.
  • Global partnerships and mobility offices.
  • Accreditation and quality-assurance roles.
  • Internationalisation strategy.
  • Executive education and microcredential development.
  • Policy-school leadership.
  • Think-tank and university partnership management.
  • International student recruitment and public affairs.

Each candidate should graduate with a documented professional portfolio containing:

  • Academic curriculum vitae.
  • Research profile and ORCID record.
  • Dissertation abstract for non-academic audiences.
  • One publishable academic article.
  • One policy brief.
  • One executive presentation or briefing.
  • Evidence of conference participation.
  • Evidence of professional or policy engagement.
  • Research ethics and data-management documentation.
  • Individual career development plan.
  • Record of transferable skills and professional competencies.
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