Master of Arts in National Security Studies

RECOMMENDED AS FIRST PROGRAM COURSE. REQUIRED AS ONE OF FIRST THREE PROGRAM COURSES. Learn basic research methods skills for addressing security and intelligence studies problems and issues. You focus on the detailed procedures for conducting qualitative case studies, which is the foundation for most basic security and intelligence research conducted in academic, government, and business circles. You become well versed in research planning, secondary data collection, and qualitative data analysis methods and how these methods relate to the larger field of social science research. You will also learn the analysis of competing hypotheses approach to research design. You are also introduced to basic social theory which supports security and intelligence research. The course prepares you for later learning intermediate and advanced security and intelligence methods.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS YOUR SECOND CLASS in National Security Studies. The course will cover the roles, missions, organization, capabilities, unique cultures and strategic purposes of the President, the Departments of State and Defense, Congress, National Security Council, Armed Forces, intelligence community, and NGOs, as well as how these actors interact to formulate national security strategy. Students will examine some of the successes and failures of the interagency process and will gain an appreciation of the capabilities, limitations and organizational cultures of the players in the national security community, as well as providing an overview of legal and ethical issues that impact on the development of national security policy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS YOUR THIRD CLASS in National Security Studies. Students will appraise the contributions of classic philosophers to security strategy and assess the theoretical explanations for the causes of war and peace. In addition, they will compare differing strategies for the conduct and termination of war and appraise just and unjust war doctrines in light of international law. Students will also assess deterrence strategy and its use in the nuclear age; compare differing doctrines for guerrilla war, revolution, and terrorism; and assess strategies for peacekeeping and peacemaking. The student will complete a number of small writing assignments and a final research paper that develops contemporary strategy and operational art for some aspect of national security.

This course assesses the major concepts of strategic thinking that underpin the national security decision making process in the U.S. Students analyze the fundamental nature of power in the international arena, how national security objectives are determined, grand strategies available to attain national security objectives and the ways in which the elements of national power are applied to achieve desired objectives. The course surveys national security policies since the end of the Cold War, examines regional security concerns to the U.S., covers the concept and principal components of national security strategy and evaluates the most important theories that explain how states and non-state actors interact in the international arena. The student examines current challenges to U.S. national security interests, especially terrorism and the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and evaluates future national security policies and challenges.

During this course, the student analyzes the domestic and international contexts that shape the behavior of state and non-state actors, and which affect the formulation of national security policies. The course provides an assessment of major social, cultural, political, military, economic, technological, and historical issues that influence the international context; the roles and influence of international organizations and non-state actors; and the key transitional challenges to national security such as weapons proliferation and terrorism. The student will examine the issues and national security interests of the U.S. in regions of the world, how the U.S. has carried out its foreign policy in those regions to protect its national security, and the security interests of the nations in those regions. This course will prepare the student to conduct strategic assessments of selected organizations, regions, states, and other actors on the international stage.

Students will learn to analyze a state’s foreign policy and security decision-making. Students are introduced first to advanced case study analysis procedures used in analyzing foreign policy and security issues and then learn to explain and predict decisions and behaviors using models drawn from political psychology, rational choice theory, and game theory, which are the mainstays of foreign policy and security analysis. Students use the models introduced in the course to analyze foreign policy and security decision-making and behavior in a number of crisis and non-crisis situations. Prerequisite: NSEC500 Research Methods in Security and Intelligence Studies or other AMU 500-level graduate research methods course

The course will consider the rationalist approach to conflict analysis, along with other theoretical approaches to international relations theory. It will examine the generic nature of conflict, whether between individuals or nations. It also directly addresses international conflict, its origins, discernible patterns, routine components, range of outcomes, and modes of conflict prevention or amelioration. Conflict resolution theory will be applied to various cases of contemporary conflict among nations. Students will develop a thorough awareness of the origins of conflict, various approaches to conflict analysis and resolution, as well as strategies for conflict prevention.

This course is a history, development, and future outlook for the approaches to peace, with particular emphasis on peace through coercive power, peace through nonviolence, peace through world order, and peace through personal and community transformation. The course will study the phenomenon of peace through examples and cases from the international/strategic level down to the local/tactical/community levels.

This course is a study of the dynamics that surround peace and conflict resolution, to include the role of culture, religion, politics, leadership, and diplomacy. This course addresses the intangible issues not covered in traditional conflict resolution analysis in an attempt to uncover deep-seated systemic issues tied to the peace, conflict resolution, peacekeeping, and conflict avoidance process.

This course is a study of the theory and literature on the history and practice of international negotiations for purposes of peace; mediation between opposing factions, groups, or states; settlement of hostilities; preemption; among other issues. The course includes contending approaches to international negotiations, their basic assumptions and methodologies, and their application to current conflict situations. The role of culture and cross-cultural communication in international negotiation is explored. Also included in the course is discussion and study of skills development in international negotiation.

This course will explore the role of international civilian police in peacekeeping operations in establishing a rule of law sufficient to support an emerging democratic society and a sustainable peace. Emphasis will be placed on exploring civilian police relationships with other actors in theater and on understanding public order maintenance through the lenses of peace building, justice and reconciliation. (Students who enroll in this course may also receive a Certificate-of-Completion from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research)

An examination of the strategic, operational, and tactical elements required for conducting both UN and non-UN sponsored peace operations. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the reasons for success or failure of previous and ongoing peacekeeping missions.

This course examines the role of diplomacy in national security policy development and implementation. It investigates diplomacy as an element of national power and how diplomacy is used by senior diplomats and military officials who regularly engage in the international sphere. The course provides an overview of the history, development and trends in diplomacy, including methods of building relationships and cross-cultural norms and challenges of communication in the international environment, as well as the integration of traditional and public diplomacy with the other elements of national power. The basic organization and staffing of US Missions and Combatant Commands who are engaged in day-to-day diplomatic activities, the interplay between diplomacy and security, cross-cultural management and diplomatic signals and bilateral summitry are also investigated.

Comprehensive final examination for students in the Master of Arts in National Security Studies program. The "Comprehensive Final Exam" is tailored specifically to each program and must be taken after students have completed 36 hours of study (i.e. during the semester following the final course) and successfully completed before the award of a degree. The course number for the exam will be the Area of Study or Major, followed by (i.e. for Strategic Intelligence, the Comprehensive Exam course number is INTL698, for Management, the Comprehensive Exam course number is MGMT698).