National security always has been critical to our survival and success and a country. But, it is not a static concept. It has undergone change from the beginning of the republic; the changes have been especially profound since the end of the Cold War. Now it must be understood as any threat, challenge or opportunity that impacts the interests and well-being of the country and, in fact, often well beyond the country’s borders. Changes in the political order and vastly different technology have necessitated an approach to security that was unthinkable and unnecessary just 25 years ago. In this course, students will be able to:

• Understand and apply the framework of security, strategy, interests and policy in a new, globalizing world;
• Select and identify key issues that are the focus of national security; and
• Analyze national security issues from an international context that focuses on the fluctuating world of partners and adversaries.

Beginning with the Qing Dynasty and a focus on post 1979 normalization of Sino-U.S. relations, students will be able to understand contemporary Chinese history and the country’s approach to relations with the United States. Additionally, knowledge of China’s military and political organizations will permit students to examine such structures of power and how the country attempts to manage various international and domestic challenges. Finally, this course will permit students to analyze the complexity of crafting a national strategy for dealing with an imperialist China.

This course is divided into four discreet, yet interdependent parts:

• Qualitative Research Methods;
• Quantitative Research Methods;
• Critical Thinking and Complexity Theory; and
• Writing Workshop

The overall objectives/learning outcomes are to:

• Equip students with the ability, skills and knowledge to conduct and produce quality research in the rapidly changing environment of 21st social science; and
• To give students the skills to evaluate and analyze a wide variety of social science situations in order to develop and enact new policy solutions to contemporary

The objectives/learning outcomes for the sections on qualitative and quantitative research methods are to equip students with an understanding, expertise and ability to apply the most important contemporary research methods currently in use in the social sciences.

The objectives/learning outcomes for the section on critical thinking and complexity theory are to equip students with an understanding, expertise and ability to conduct research and apply solutions to the most complex social science issues in the increasingly interdependent, globalizing world.

The objectives/learning outcomes for the writing workshop are to direct students to apply the methods and skills they learned in the three previous sections, to improve their writing skills and to help prepare them for the research and preparation of their masters’ thesis and set in place the ability to produce quality work in the future.

The course will provide students with an ability to evaluate and assess issues of terrorism, as it impacts the United States. Students will examine the nation’s extensive history of domestic and international terroristic threats and analyze how technological advancement has been a primary mode of sophistication for terrorists to target the United States. From a national security perspective, students will better understand how domestic and international terrorist groups, past separations between actions by hostile governments, and non-state actor involvement present unique challenges. This course will prepare students in the fields of national security, defense, intelligence, and foreign policy to recognize the evolution of terrorism within the 21st century.

This course outlines the conceptualization of contemporary counterterrorism practices in response to the September 11th attacks. Students will examine domestic and international counterterrorism efforts predicated on radical techniques by terrorist organizations and individual radicals/extremists/guerillas through wide-ranging interactive and innovative counterterrorism strategies that are used in real world operations. Finally, students will obtain a comprehensive outlook on the motivation behind terroristic acts.

ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS: A primary recommendation of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States’ (the 9/11 Commission) was to launch the National Counterterrorism Center and handle counterterrorism efforts domestically and abroad. As a result, President George W. Bush delivered Executive Order 13354 and Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004 to restructure the United States focus on intelligence and terrorism preventative measures.

This course is an introduction to approaches in strategy, which exposes students to strategic thought and theorists who have influenced both Eastern and Western practices of strategic methods. It provides a foundation in strategic theory and approaches to strategic thought as an analytical framework to understanding the cultural, religious, historical, and leadership sources of state and non-state actor behavior. It also discusses foreign and U.S. perspectives as well as concepts on the use of force (strength), stratagems (guile) and the power of information (ideas). Strategy must be developed in a holistic manner, integrating the diplomatic, informational, military and economic elements of power in a “whole of government” approach. Furthermore, students will better understand the strategy formulation process of ends, ways and means. At the course’s conclusion, students will formulate an alternative Strategy, which balances the approaches of strength and guile, coupled with the means to influence state and non-state actors with its ideas and economic resources to counteract an adversary’s strategy.

This course will review the President of the United States’ stance on protecting this nation, its allies, and security partners through enhanced nuclear weapons, missile defense, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) policies. Students will take an in-depth look at these three critical defense areas to analyze American weapons defense policy and address certain threats from Russia and China, departing from a previous strategy that focused exclusively on rogue nations. This course will provide comprehensive knowledge on bolstered technology, effective research and development initiatives and unique Department of Defense (DoD) strategy to counter WMDs. This course will also discuss DoD’s approach with distinctive objectives to reduce incentives to pursue, possess, employ WMDs, which increases barriers to WMD acquisition, proliferation and use. Finally, this course will examine the management of WMD risks emanating from hostile, fragile or failed states/safe havens and enhance denial initiatives on the effects of current and emerging WMD threats through layered, integrated defenses. 

This course is designed to provide non-lawyers (although DMGS students with legal training are welcome to take the course) with an introduction to legal rules and principles related to national security and the Intelligence Community (IC). Students will examine key guidelines of domestic and international law, beginning with the Constitution and including major statutes, executive orders, and other rules of domestic law. In addition, this course will explore references to international law, as it is not designed to make students experts in the field, but rather to enable them to recognize potential problem areas so that they can seek professional guidance from IC attorneys when legal issues do arise. Finally, this course will emphasize the importance of respect for the rule of law and ethical behavior.

This course provides an in-depth examination of theory and pragmatic concepts of conflict. Students will learn key concepts and strategic principles pertaining to asymmetric warfare, terrorism, insurgency and counterinsurgency, irregular warfare, unconventional warfare, and military operations less than war (peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance). Additionally, students will examine the causes, conduct, patterns, and effects of conflict, short of an overall or general war. Finally, students will analyze the modern insurgency period from Mao Tse Tung’s approach in the Chinese Civil War through our present times with the Global Jihad.