International Security Management (M.A.)

The Master International Security Management is a consecutive  degree programme in English. The degree programme qualifies graduates to assume management roles in commercial and state security organizations, as well as to shoulder demanding security tasks in nationally and internationally-active companies and state agencies, NGOs and aid organizations.

Why to study International Security Management at HWR Berlin

  1. A well-grounded professional degree
    The International Security Management Master's degree programme gives its students a well-grounded understanding of a wide range of security issues, enabling them to recognize and evaluate risks and take a professional approach to dealing with dangerous situations.
     
  2. An international perspective
    Security managers are not restricted to the confines of national borders. Companies in the security sector often operate internationally or collaborate with international partners. The International Security Management Master’s degree provides an international perspective on a range of security issues.
     
  3. Close links between theory and practice
    The International Security Management Master's degree programme taught at the HWR Berlin provides its students with a seamless combination of theory and practice. The degree structure integrates a compulsory internship.
     
  4. A global classroom
    The degree programme is taught in multi-cultural groups by a range of leading national and international experts drawn from the private and public security sectors.
     
  5. English as the language of instruction
    The consecutive full-time degree course International Security Management is taught in English.

Description

The M.A. International Security Management aims to prepare students for careers in international security management by developing a critical interdisciplinary understanding and practically oriented skills relevant for an evolving and fast-paced industry

The curriculum is interdisciplinary and internationally-oriented. ISM provides expertise in security-related disciplines drawn from the Legal Sciences, Political Sciences, Psychology, Sociology as well as Information Technology or Economics. It combines aspects of Security Studies with practical applications such as Risk, Crisis and Catastrophe Management; the Protection of Critical Infrastructures; and Quality Assurance in the Security sector, all taught in the context of a focus on professionalism, Human Rights and Accountability. The programme is underpinned and supported by leading research and practical knowledge.

The threats are more complex and unpredictable now, and without the necessary tools, managing security becomes challenging. ISM provides you with mental tools like a Swiss knife, which are essential for security management.

E. H. O., student

Studying ISM allows you to gain new perspectives on security. Security is approached in an encompassing interdisciplinary way, not only considering the last drop in the ocean leading to crime, but as well the root causes and attempts to confront them.

L. A. from Germany, student

In addition to the multinational composition of the students, who have different experiences and perspectives on the subject of security, the diversity of the teaching staff was decisive for me in choosing the ISM programme.

C.S. from Berlin, year 2018, student

»Terrorist Governors and Transnational Civil Wars: The New Normal?« – New actors are contesting the basic norms of statehood, borders, and non-intervention at the local, state, regional, and global levels. But is Europe prepared?

Teaching expertise

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Aden

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Aden has been professor of German and European public law, public policy and public administration since 2009. He also serves as data protection commissioner for the BSEL. His research focuses on accountability, human rights, data protection, police law, right of assembly, law and technology, and environmental law and policy. His research projects primarily examine the interfaces between law, politics, and administration from a national as well as European and international perspective.

Dr. Raphael Bossong

Dr. Raphael Bossong is a research associate at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, where he is responsible for EU Justice and Home Affairs. He previously worked at the European University Viadrina, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, Hamburg and at the Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin. His research interests span the spectrum of non-military security policy, with a focus on counter-terrorism, border security and disaster management.

Prof. Dr. Anna Daun

Prof. Dr. Anna Daun has been Professor for political science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law since 2016. Her teaching and research fall within the subfields of International Relations and Security Studies. She is especially interested in security cooperation, fragile states, intelligence and civil protection. Before joining the Berlin School of Economics and Law she worked for the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in the subject areas of risk perception and risk communication.

Prof. Dr. Mischa Hansel

Prof. Dr. Mischa Hansel works at the intersection of social science and cybersecurity studies. Prior to joining HWR Berlin in 2023, he was a postdoc researcher in Cologne, Aachen and Gießen and a guest lecturer in Washington DC, Leiden and Amsterdam. More recently he led an interdisciplinary research team at the Institute for Peace Research (IFSH) in Hamburg, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. His research focuses on cyber security architectures - from the local to the global level, the role of private actors in cyber and information security and the use of new technologies in geopolitical conflicts.

Prof. Dr. Klaus von Lampe

Prof. Dr. Klaus von Lampe has been a professor of criminology at BSEL since 2018. He was previously a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. His research focuses on empirical manifestations of transnational and organized crime, the dynamics of illegal markets, the prevention of crime, and international law enforcement cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Vincenz Leuschner

Prof. Dr. Vincenz Leuschner has been Professor of Criminology and Sociology at BSEL since 2017. Prior to that, he was a professor at the University of Applied Education in Berlin and a research associate at the Free University of Berlin. His main research interests are in the field of research on violence (amok, terrorism), social problems, developmental criminology, crime prevention and sociology of social relations.

Prof. Dr. Wim Nettelnstroth

Prof. Dr. Wim Nettelnstroth has been Professor of Psychology (Human Resources Management) at BSEL since 2012 and Quality Officer of Department 5 since 2014. Outside the university, he worked at Daimler AG in the field of psychological customer and product research. His main focus of his work and research is in the fields of personnel and organisational psychology, in particular personnel selection, communication/conflict, leadership and organisational diagnosis.

Prof. Dr. Janine Neuhaus

Prof. Dr. Janine Neuhaus has been professor of psychology and research methods since April 2017. Previously, she was working as a research consultant at Potsdam University (2015-2017) and as a research associate within several third-party-funded research projects at Free University of Berlin (2004-2015; in cooperation with the Berlin Criminal Investigation Department/ LKA Berlin, Volkswagen-Foundation etc.). She is an expert on crime prevention, youth violence, intervention research, evaluation research and gender research.

Prof. Dr. Jan Dirk Roggenkamp

Prof. Dr. Jan Dirk Roggenkamp is Professor of Public Law at the BSEL. His current research agenda focuses on IT Law, especially the legal implications of police work and information technology (e.g. data retention, monitoring and surveillance of IT, use of social networks, data protection and privacy). Prior to joining the BSEL in 2017, Roggenkamp was a Professor at the Police Academy of Lower Saxony.

Karsten Schulz, Dipl.-Komm.wirt, B.A., M.A., MBA


Karsten Schulz has been lecturer in the fields of business administration, management and marketing at BSEL since 2005. He is involved in the conception of several innovative study courses and the formation of cooperation schemes and networks with international universities.

Prof. Dr. Markus Schultze-Kraft

Prof. Dr. Markus Schultze-Kraft is an Oxford and Berlin-trained political scientist with extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, policy analysis and advocacy, and university teaching in/on the global South. Prior to joining HWR Berlin in 2022, Professor Schultze-Kraft worked at the International Crisis Group, the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and Universidad Icesi in Cali. His areas of interest include political order, organised crime, violent conflict transformation, security, and historical memory and peace education in Latin America, West Africa and the Western Balkans.

Prof. Dr. Birgitta Sticher

Prof. Dr. Birgitta Sticher has been professor of psychology and leadership studies at the BSEL (formerly FHVR Berlin) since 1998, and since 2007 she has been internship coordinator for the Security Management programme at the BSEL. The focuses of her research are public involvement in disaster protection, investigative interviewing and the examination of pro-social behaviour in times of crisis/catastrophe .

Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Strauß

Prior to his appointment at BESL, Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Strauss worked in different positions with the United Nations and the OSCE on international conflict management and prevention, international human rights protection and strategic policy planning.

Prof. Dr. Tamás Szádeczky

Prof. Dr. Tamás Szádeczky is a full professor and head of the Ludovika University of Public Service, Department of Cybersecurity. He has been working in the information security audit and consultation field since 2003. He has also lectured and researched the topic for over a decade in multiple universities in three countries. He holds several international professional titles, including CISSP, CISM, CISA, GICSP, and IRCA ISO 27001 principal auditor

Prof. Dr. Tarik Tabbara, LL.M. (McGill)

Prof. Dr. Tarik Tabbara is Professor of Public Law, especially National and European Security Law at BSEL. He was appointed in September 2018 after working many years in several positions in the German Federal Government (inter alia Chancellor’s Office, Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safety) and in the German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag). His legal expertise covers a wide range of topics in national as well as European and Public International Law, especially migration, citizenship and police law and human rights with a special focus on religious freedom.

Dr. Johannes Thumfart

Johannes Thumfart is a philosopher and historian. He is a fellow at the Research Group LSTS at Vrije Universiteit Brussels and published in journals such as Journal of Global Security Studies, AI and Ethics, and European Journal of International Security.

Prof. Dr. Juergen Weichselgartner

Prof. Dr. Juergen Weichselgartner has been professor of crisis and risk management at HWR since 2019. Prior appointments include renowned science centres, such as Harvard University, the University of Tokyo, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). His expertise lies in analysing societal transformation and the rich array of responses to risk and global change processes. He has authored several books and articles on risk-related aspects, contributed to various international reports and serves as a reviewer for the IPCC.

    The ISM offers a unique blend of perspectives. Dealing with today‘s security challenges require a wide variety of applied skills and critical insights. Practioners have to work across borders, cultures, organizations and disciplines.

    Mr. Raphael Bossong, lecturer

    Security management requires more than solely technical skills. It refers to complex environments, cross-sectoral thinking, trans-disciplinary approaches, and multi-cultural settings.

    Prof. Dr. Juergen Weichselgartner

    Imagine being at the cutting edge of one of the most crucial fields of tomorrow: international security management. Here, you’ll dive into an unparalleled learning experience and guided by an interdisciplinary approach.

    Prof. Dr. Jan Roggenkamp

    The vibe of the international class makes the ISM program unique at HWR Berlin.

    Prof. Dr. Tamás Szádeczky
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