How international public policy makes the world a better place

Find out how international public policies can benefit communities at a national and international level. 

International public policy not only helps to bring order and peaceful coexistence between nation states, but also plays a vital role in protecting human health, education and rights, and the planet as a whole. By choosing a career in public policy, you’ll inform and improve the laws and regulations that benefit communities and individuals everywhere. 

What is international public policy? 

As its name suggests, public policy concerns the actions, tools and methodologies used or taken by administrative bodies, such as government and other regulatory organisations, to formulate and/or amend policies made at a local, regional, national, international or transnational level. 

Domestic public policy is limited to the affairs within a particular nation state. National UK public bodies include, for example, the range of Parliamentary departments, such as the Cabinet Office or Department for Education, as well as arms length bodies (ALBs) like the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA). 

International public policy, referred to as foreign policy by national governments, focuses on those activities that cross national boundaries, even though the policies of the individual nation states themselves may differ. Embracing everything from finance and development, to security, energy, technology, environmental and political affairs, it concerns external rather than domestic relations and the interlinking policies between two or more countries 

Transnational public policy is essentially international policy on a global scale and measure that affect the world and its population and, for instance, promote and protect economic, social, cultural and human rights.

The most well-known international bodies include the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Health Organization (WHO).

In reality, however, public policy on this scale involves lots of different international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), research institutes, policy centres, universities, state and national legislatures and parliaments, courts, and foundations. 

Examples of well-known international public policies in action  

Some of the longest-standing international policies relate to the Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols, which form the core of international humanitarian law. First established in 1949 following the Second World War, they establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war.

Essentially, they protect people not taking part in hostilities and those who are no longer doing so, including the wounded, sick and civilians in and around a warzone. Consisting (to date) of four international treaties and three protocols, the Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 countries. 

Another hugely successful international treaty from more recent times is the Paris Agreement, often referred to as the ‘Paris Accords’ or the ‘Paris Climate Accord’, which was adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015. A legally binding international treaty on climate change, its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The Agreement, which provides a framework for financial, technical and capacity building support to those countries who need it, has the support of 194 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

Finally, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is another of the most widely ratified human rights treaties in the world. The Convention, which came into force in the UK in 1992, has the agreement of all UN member states except for the United States.

It has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights. 

Helping launch your international public policy career 

Given that we live in globalised world, closer than ever as a result of advancements in travel and technology, public policy now affects everyone’s lives. On Queen Mary’s Online International Public Policy MSc, you’ll gain an understanding of how agenda setting and policy making works, together with the changing political and economic landscape in which many central public policies operate.  

The programme blends specific theories, concepts and cases of public policy with a broader study of international relations, equipping you with knowledge and transferrable skills that you can use in a variety of international public policy settings.  

Possible career paths include law, law enforcement, justice, lobbying, policy analysis, and advocacy. Our graduates have progressed to diverse positions of responsibility in government, NGOs, international organisations and the not-for-profit sector, as well as broader roles in the media and finance sector. 

Find out more 

Explore the development, possibilities and limitations of international policy-making with Queen Mary Online's International Public Policy MSc: