Convenor name: Dr. Alireza Shams Lahijani
Convenor email: as223@soas.ac.uk
Module dates: 21/09/2026 - 15/01/2027
Intended learning outcomes:

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

  • Critically analyse the major theoretical traditions in geopolitics and strategic studies, including classical, critical, feminist, and postcolonial approaches.
  • Evaluate how power is projected, legitimised, and contested across multiple domains—territory, technology, energy, narrative, and embodied experience.
  • Interrogate strategic and policy documents as geopolitical performances rather than neutral descriptions of reality
  • Construct and defend an original analytical argument that synthesises theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence from contemporary international security.

Assessment 1: Name: AS1
Assessment 1: Weighting: 20%
Assessment 1: Due date: 05/11/2026
Assessment 1: Release date: 05/02/2027
Assessment 1: Format: Essay Plan
Assessment 2: Name: AS2
Assessment 2: Weighting: 80%
Assessment 2: Due date: 14/01/2026
Assessment 2: Release date: 05/02/2027
Assessment 2: Format: Final Essay