Master of Arts in National Security Studies-Capstone Option

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. This course is required as the first course in the MA in National Security Studies Program.

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.

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.

This course will examine the implications of rising world-wide economic interdependence upon relevant aspects of U.S. national security policy. The phenomenon of globalization will be analyzed from an economic standpoint and related security issues, such as the effectiveness of sanctions, the ability to regulate commerce in weapons and technology, and the changing global balance in military capabilities will be considered in this context.

This course examines contemporary globalization, its links to emergent threats, and potential U.S. responses. To familiarize students with the types and effects of emergent threats, the course considers several topics including the history and future of: cyber conflict, bioterrorism and public health, climate change, radicalization of U.S. citizens, transnational organized crime, terrorism WMD, state failure and civil war, and emerging technologies. The relationship between globalization and emergent threats is explored with a focus on U.S. national security strategy. The course is about the politics of emergent threats and does not require any specialized technical background.

This course covers the development of the cartels and their organization, production, and distribution networks. It also provides an overview of U.S. counter-drug efforts and basic information on illicit drugs.

This course is an application of modern politico-economic insights to improve general understanding of the resource dimensions of a range of national security issues -- from alliances, defense spending and budgeting, the defense industry, arms control and disarmament, and unconventional warfare to the effects of defense on economic growth and development.

This course offers a comprehensive overview of key elements of the United States’ homeland security program. This overview will have students examining, discussing and analyzing homeland security operational and policy concerns which have continued to evolve in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

This course explores the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a unique phenomenon within the homeland security landscape. Specifically, this course provides students with a historical perspective on the development and use of WMD from both an international and a domestic perspective. The course also explores the efforts to prevent, prepare, and respond to the use of WMDs.

This course traces the history, emergence, and growth of domestic terrorist and extremist groups within the United States. Students will assess various groups' intentions, capabilities, and activities within contexts of and ramifications on political, national security, and legal paradigms.

This course will survey the critical importance of ports to trade, their vulnerability to disruption and attack, and defensive measures to mitigate risk focusing on international cooperation and legislation. Special emphasis will be placed on defensive measures to protect ports from disruption or asymmetric attack, international cooperation, and national legislation.

RECOMMENDED AS SECOND PROGRAM COURSE. This course examines the current structure, function, capabilities, and contributions of individual U.S. national intelligence community members. Students appraise the intelligence cycle by an overview of the intelligence planning, collection, exploitation, analysis, production, and dissemination phases. The course also evaluates the intelligence oversight system, the restrictions on national intelligence community activities prescribed by federal law, executive and agency directives.

This course is a study of intelligence collection and information gathering. It focuses on a variety of aspects related to how both the United States and foreign nations gather and process intelligence. The student will develop a comprehensive understanding of the role collection plays in the intelligence community, how various policies affect collection, and how different intelligence agencies monitor and collect intelligence.

This course provides an overview of intelligence analysis. It first explores the nature of human thought processes: why we think the way we do, and the many analytical, perceptual, and cognitive errors we frequently make in conducting our own analysis. The student is also provided a foundation from which to understand and conduct critical analysis. With this foundation, students are then given a series of historical case studies to examine and analyze.

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of intelligence operations. The course will focus on the intelligence resources necessary to carry out the full range of intelligence operations using the tools, techniques, and resources available to intelligence agencies.

This course examines intelligence community responses to threats to the U.S. homeland from transnational and domestic actors. Threats to the U.S. borders, including illegal immigration, narcotics smuggling, money laundering, commercial smuggling, and other organized crime activities are also covered.

Students review the relationships between intelligence and national security strategy using an historical case study approach, analyzing both past and contemporary national security issues from an intelligence perspective. Students also analyze the evolving relationship between intelligence and national security strategy from the beginning of World War I to the present. THIS COURSE NOT OFFERED AT APUS, BUT MAY BE FULFILLED THROUGH TRANSFER AGREEMENTS OR A SUBSTITUTION COURSE. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACADEMIC ADVISOR FOR DETAILS.

This course will provide an overview of transnational crime and narcotics and its effects on national security, political, social, and economic development of countries around the world. The focus of this class will be the proliferation and expanding influence of organized crime groups, the increasing links among crime groups, corruption, and links to terrorism from transnational crime and narcotics. This class will examine the diverse dimensions of transnational crime and narcotics in the context of increasing globalization and the exponential impact of technology advances

This course will expose the students to a variety of counter-terrorism intelligence methodologies and analytic tools, and extensive academic, government, policy literature on the challenges, opportunities, and assumptions related to forecasting terrorism. The course will provide students with the analytic capability to understand the types of terrorist threats that are most likely to confront the U.S. and its allies, in addition to challenging students to evaluate the efficacy and impact of prediction-based efforts in counter-terrorism intelligence.

This course of study examines the history of political, tactical and strategic developments and concepts regarding geopolitical concerns regarding political and military planning and execution from the mid-20th Century through the modern era. The comparative analysis of these concepts from the applicable secondary literature will provide a stepping stone to understanding the nature of modern combined arms and joint forces warfare.

This course examines the relationship between military affairs and statecraft, ranging from how war is a logical consequence of political behavior. Case studies in the great powers' use of force and military issues clarify the connection between politics and the use of force, including war in its international context, attitudes toward war and its causes, the notion of "vital interests," WHY humans fight, and aspects of past areas of conflict that appear relevant to the future.

This course examines the defense policies of a number of nations in Europe and Asia that had to deal with enormous changes following the East bloc's collapse. It concentrates on the effect of post-Cold War induced changes on these nations.

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.

An examination of the governments and the militaries of the two Koreas. This course will closely examine the reasons behind the Korean peninsula playing such a pivotal role in overall Northeast Asian security. The course will examine domestic political, economic and social problems and prospects of North Korea and South Korea; the prospects for reunification; the military balance and the changing strategic environment; and the relations of Pyongyang and Seoul with their key allies. Includes an examination of U.S. relations with Korea.

Latin America continues as one of the most important areas to the United States -- even as it remains one of the least understood. In particular, the internal dimension of security has not yet been resolved in many Latin American nations to the extent that domestic stability can be taken for granted, a reality which could have profound consequences for the United States.

This course examines evolution of the contemporary Middle East politics. It studies political, social, and cultural, interactions both within and among the countries located in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, the Persian Gulf region, and the North Africa. The course aims to present detailed and multidimensional analysis of the political attitudes and behaviors of prominent players biased through religious motives, regimes, patterns of patrimonial leadership, and diverse aspirations and goals of traditional social groups rooted in the Middle East. In this framework, focusing, first, on the birth and rise of Islam and religious motives in social life, the course sets the stage for historic developments which brought about structural dilemmas of today. Emphasizing on the period starting with the industrial revolution early in the nineteenth century, it also draws attention to the political economic motives of the region shaped by petroleum as well as the rise of mass politics. Correspondingly, involvement of the great powers into the politics of region is, in the final analysis, another topic that adds up flavor to the discussions and perspectives related to the Middle East politics. Finally, it takes up the analysis of current developments, like the U.S. led Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and democratization efforts in the Broader Middle East area in the context of U.S. war on terror.

This course examines the political, economic and security forces that impact on the government and politics of countries in the Middle East, specifically the Persian Gulf, as well as U.S. foreign policy toward this important region. It will touch on the historic, religious, social and cultural aspects that have helped shape the political dynamics of the Persian Gulf as well as the strategic factors which have tied the region to the West generally and to the U.S. in particular. The first part of the course will focus on the historical background of the region, the role of religion, and the emergence of nation-states after centuries of foreign domination. The latter part will concentrate on contemporary issues and problems -- The issue of terrorism and the recent Gulf conflict caused by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The course will examine the political systems and the political elites of the major players in the Middle East including Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The course will conclude with an overview of current U.S. involvement in the region.

The global reach of the Internet, the low cost of online activity, and the relative anonymity of users has led to an increase in computer related crimes. This course focuses on cybercrime investigation and prevention; it appraises the legal issues related to on-line criminal conduct, the collection of electronic evidence, and the onslaught of new technology. This course also analyzes the phases, processes, and challenges of cybercrime investigations, and it examines technical, legal, and social issues relating to the search and seizure of digital evidence and computer forensics. Students will encounter the challenges of the latency between technology and the law.

This course is an advanced study of information ethics, cyber privacy, and intellectual property. It examines the ethical, economic, and societal issues that face today’s information-entrenched society; this includes intellectual property rights, privacy, accessibility and censorship. The explosive growth of information technology, the increased competition in the global marketplace, and the surge in the use of information to protect society from terrorism has led to the unintended erosion of fundamental rights and values. This course appraises the current state of information ethics, the dangers and opportunities presented by information technology, and the potential solutions to the inherent risks in today’s information-bound society.

This course focuses on the ways that law, ethics and cybersecurity overlap and intersect. Besides laws related to cybersecurity, the course examines laws related to intellectual property, civil litigation, criminal prosecutions, and privacy. This examination will provide the means to identify and analyze the policies reflected in those laws. Those policies could guide the creation of policies on a business-level, using qualitative risk assessment and planning. An exploration of ethics and cybersecurity, as well as of workplace ethics, will involve the use of an ethical framework.

This course is a study of militant foreign ethnic/religious groups not outwardly affiliated with a sovereign state. Students address specific individuals and groups as case studies in order to draw out the implications and principles associated with actual non-state military, terrorist, events and actions. Focus is on the individuals and cells that carry out the military and terrorist plans to further insurgencies and revolutions.

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 will provide an overview of key cyber issues for non-practitioners in a national security framework. Students will study the cyber threat environment; laws and policies that govern cyber security; current and historical structure, functions, and capabilities of private and governmental agencies comprising the cyber community; and future trends that affect national security.

This course examines the forces reshaping world politics and analyzes the institutions that are fostering new forms of global governance. The course will allow the student to analyze models of international cooperation and identify the states that have most actively challenged the existing order. There will be a focus on the examination of leading and emergent international institutions such as the G-20, the nascent regime for sovereign wealth funds, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the forums organized to foster cooperation in the war on terror.

This course provides an analysis of the complex relationship between a nation's national security and its involvement with foreign assistance programs, both economic and military, in furtherance of its national security. The course will examine definitions of national security, and analyze and compare the kinds of foreign assistance provided by various nations in recent decades. It will provide the foundation for understand the linkages implicit between foreign assistance and national security objectives. Finally, the course will cause the student to assess the effectiveness and implications of such assistance for a nation's national security strategy, both donor and recipient nations.

This course examines Covert Action in the context of National Security. The syllabus includes a spectrum of activities concerning related Intelligence, Counterintelligence, unconventional warfare and assassination issues. Students go on to assess related espionage spycraft, technology and agent activity, and conclude the course by weighing the political and executive aspects of the Presidential powers exercised in Covert Action, with their attendant moral, national security and historical burdens. Students engage in group discussions, written assignments and exams on syllabus topics

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.

This course focuses on analyzing terror groups from a political psychological perspective. In particular, the course approaches terror groups from two different political psychological perspectives, individual and group processes. Together these two perspectives provide a solid foundation from which to understand terror groups.

This course examines some of the major concepts of strategic thinking that underpin the national security strategy of the U.S. Students will analyze the primary inputs in the development of national security policy and investigate strategy components that are necessary in the post-Cold War. They will also explore and debate the major issues affecting strategy, to include the impact of rapid technological change and special operations. This course is especially suited to students in the Defense Senior Leadership Development Program.

The Master’s Capstone Seminar option in National Security Studies is a 16 week course that must be taken after all other courses in your program are complete and it cannot be taken concurrently with other courses. Capstone courses are NOT included in the university retake policy. All grades for any capstone attempts will appear on transcript and will be calculated in GPA.