DSS 840 - Seminar on National Security Strategies

Credit Hours: 3

This seminar focuses on the development and implementation of national security strategies. It is comprised of three components: The first examines the strategies of each successive presidential administration from the end of the cold war to the present. The emphasis will be on the perspectives of the principal practitioners: how they viewed the central geopolitical circumstances at the time; how they viewed the key national security challenges; what national level goals they pursued; and what tools of statecraft they emphasized in meeting the strategic challenges they faced. The second component focuses on the strategic challenges of the contemporary international and global security environment. These include the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the reemergence of peer nation adversaries, and the spread of dual-use, advanced technologies that have, in some instances, produced new threats to American interests such as in the cyber and biological realms. Strategies pursued by the current and previous administrations for dealing with these challenges will be examined and assessed. The third component consists of original research by each student on a strategic challenge of his/her choice (which can range from climate change to global pandemics) with the goal of developing a strategy, along with an integrated set of instruments, to respond to the challenge. Students will present their strategy in class for comment by their classmates who will be asked to provide their assessment of the feasibility of implementation and the prospects for success.

Lecture Contact Hours: 3

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring