Master of Arts in Intelligence Studies-Capstone Option

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.

RECOMMENDED AS SECOND PROGRAM COURSE. Strategic Intelligence is an examination of the current structure, function, capabilities, and contributions of individual U.S. national intelligence community members. Students appraise the intelligence cycle, including an overview of the intelligence planning, collection, exploitation, analysis, production, and dissemination phases. A review is also made of intelligence oversight structures and restrictions on U.S. national intelligence community activities as prescribed by federal law, executive and agency directives, and the intelligence oversight system.

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 the student with a firm foundation in qualitative analysis and modeling techniques, including rational choice, utility, and game theories, in order to create and test hypotheses. Students will apply basic trend analysis techniques and forecasting methods such as probability tree analysis, analytic hierarchy process, alternative scenarios/futures, Delphi technique, and the Lockwood Analytical Method for Prediction (LAMP).

This course will aid the student in writing clear and concise intelligence related documentation. Through a series of practical intelligence related exercises, the student will learn to choose the appropriate writing style required to properly and effectively communicate their message to their simulated target audience, including proper formatting and citation styles, as well as the best use of tables, diagrams, graphics and charts.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT A RESEARCH METHODS COURSE IS TAKEN BEFORE THIS COURSE. This course first explores the nature of human thought processes: why we think the way we do, and the many analytical, perceptual, and cognitive errors that plague our efforts to conduct sound, dispassionate analysis. The course then addresses various analytical tools that are available to the analyst, using practical exercises to reinforce same. A major research project will demonstrate the applicability of these techniques to analysis, using a notional/contemporary scenario.

Learn how to improve interagency relationships among security, defense, and intelligence agencies. This course introduces the student to theoretical and practical material for understanding the behavior of individual organizations and what can be done to make organizations work more closely together at the federal, state, and local levels. Students are introduced to theoretical material on organizational cultures; bureaucracy; social trust; individual, group, and organizational decision-making; and interagency collaboration. Emphasis is placed on explaining why organizations act the way they do and how to improve interagency coordination. Prerequisite: INTL500 Research Methods in Security and Intelligence Studies or other APUS 500-level graduate research methods course.

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 STUDENT ADVISOR FOR DETAILS.

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.

The Master’s Capstone Seminar option in Intelligence Studies includes a thesis or a major research paper in lieu of the final comprehensive examination, which has no credit hours. Those who elect this graduation option may reduce their electives by three semester hours to accommodate the seminar option credit. Students starting their degree program after 1 January 2009 must take INTL699 and complete a thesis based upon a list of available subjects. The thesis or major research paper options are recommended for those students who wish to apply their advanced research and analytic skills to a topic of U.S .or international security interest. The thesis option is recommended for those students planning professional writing careers or those planning to continue their education at higher levels.