MALD 

DHP P205 National Security Decision Making: Theory & Practice 

This course examines national security decision making from both a theoretical perspective and from its execution in practice. The seminar focuses on how decisions are made rather than on the theories of international relations or the substantive content of national security or foreign policies. The course begins with the history of the U.S. National Security Council, current structures, actors, and processes in the U.S. system of national security decision making. Next, the course examines several theoretical models of decision making: individual cognitive and group biases, organizational and bureaucratic politics, and how senior leaders often use history and analogies in their decisions. The roles of the Departments of State and Defense, the intelligence community, Congress, and the media are also explored as well as the prospects for U.S. national security reform. Emphasis throughout the seminar is placed on the national security decision-making system of the United States (and particularly on the Executive Branch), but seminar participants also are encouraged to examine and discuss the systems and actors of other states as well.

DHP P233 International Security  

This course examines the use of armed force in international affairs. You will examine theories of war and bargaining, conflict prevention and termination, post-conflict management, and the role of third parties. You will study civil wars, interstate wars, and insurgencies (including terrorism) as well as different forms of warfare, including conventional, nuclear, information, and cyber warfare. Although we will consider the nature of the state system and the structure of the international order from a historical perspective, special attention will be paid to the post-Cold War era.

DHP P241 Policy and Strategy in the Origins, Conduct, and Termination of War  

This course employs case studies to assess enduring principles of war and their role in defending a nation’s interests and objectives. The works of three military strategists and four political theorists are examined to develop an analytical framework for assessing the origins, conduct, and termination of war. This framework is employed to analyze six major historical conflicts: the Peloponnesian War; the Wars of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France; the American Civil War; World War I; World War II; the French-Indo-China War/U.S. war in Vietnam.

MGA 

DHP D220 Processes of International Negotiation

This course explores the processes, rather than specific substantive issues, of international negotiation. Using exercises and simulations, it examines the nature of conflict in the international arena; the special characteristics of negotiation in the international setting; pre-negotiation and the problems of inducing parties to negotiate; negotiation dynamics; the roles of culture and power; and the strategy and tactics of international negotiation. International mediation, arbitration, special problems of multilateral negotiation, and the follow-up and implementation of negotiated agreements are also examined.

DHP P203 Analytic Frameworks for International Public Policy Decisions

Introduction to the basic tools of policy analysis and decision making, providing students with analytic skills to make policy decisions in many types of organizations. The course includes an introduction to public policy objectives, decision making, and the role of analysis. Students then learn powerful analytic decision-making techniques, including decision trees, Bayes theorem, utility theory, prospect theory, game theory, benefit-cost analysis, and tipping models. Case studies are used to learn the policy analysis tools while applying them to real world policy problems. Cases come from developed and developing countries, and cover many different policy fields. No background in economics or statistics is required.

DHP D282 Contemporary Issues in U.S.-Russian Relations 

This course examines major issues in US-Russian relations, including views on sovereignty, values, and world order; Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia; and nuclear weapons, cyber, and each country's role in the other's domestic politics. The course is video-linked with 15 students from MGIMO, a leading university in Moscow. An application is required to enroll.

DHP H204 Classics of International Relations

Most graduate courses in international relations focus on “cutting edge” research. Without a working knowledge of Thucydides, Kant, or Schelling, citizens and policymakers are unable to place new theoretical propositions into a historical context. This course surveys the history of international relations theory through a close reading of 10-15 classic works in the field. Among the questions that will be addressed: how far has IR theory developed since Thucydides? How closely do theories of international relations mirror the era in which they were written? In what ways are these widely cited works simplified or misstated in the current era?

DHP H205 The Historian’s Art and Current Affairs

Through case studies, this course aims to give students the historical powers they need as they go out into the world: empathy, detachment, and relentless skepticism. The course examines the origins of World War I and the analogies the war provoked and provokes, as well as the two paradigms that come up when debating whether or not to go to war: the trouble that flowed from appeasing Nazi Germany and Japan in the run up to World War II, and the disastrous Sicilian expedition embarked on by ancient Athens. The tension between these paradigms is explored through studies of war in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. The course will also examine how different readings of history can lead to dramatically different policies; the U.S., Russia, and China tell Cold War history differently and those differences do much to explain their different world views. Armed with knowledge of the many endings of the Cold War, the course will also compare the revolutions in Europe in 1989, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, and the Arab Spring.

DHP P200 International Relations: Theory and Practice

Traditional, behavioral, and post behavioral theories of international relations, and the nature of theory in international relations; the role of normative theory; levels of analysis, structure-agent relationships, and concepts of foreign policy behavior and decision making; utopian/neo-liberal and realist/neo-realist theory, and democratic peace theory; theories of power and its management; theories of integration, cooperation, conflict, war, and geopolitical and ecological/environmental relationships; constructivism; systems theory; regime analysis; the relationship between theory and the international system in the early 21st century; traditional and contemporary paradigms of the international system.

DHP P202m Security Sector Reform: Conceptual and Contextual Debates in Peacebuilding

This module is an in-depth primer on the conceptual underpinnings and the record of implementation of security sector reform (SSR) over the past 20 years. The course begins with a brief overview of the historical and theoretical foundations of the field and frequent debates raised by the community of practitioners as well as critics. The course is organized around the SSR model as defined by Jane Chanaa across four dimensions: political, institutional, societal, and economic. Classes will explore the conceptual definitions, institutions and actors, and lessons learned within each dimension and apply the model to case studies. Students will compare SSR implementation when led by the local government, the United Nations, regional organizations, and/or outside states including the United Kingdom and the United States. The course closes with the students’ assessment of the SSR as a conceptual tool for peace building and prospects for its future evolution in practice.

DHP P205 National Security Decision Making: Theory & Practice

This course examines national security decision making from both a theoretical perspective and from its execution in practice. The seminar focuses on how decisions are made rather than on the theories of international relations or the substantive content of national security or foreign policies. The course begins with the history of the U.S. National Security Council, current structures, actors, and processes in the U.S. system of national security decision making. Next, the course examines several theoretical models of decision making: individual cognitive and group biases, organizational and bureaucratic politics, and how senior leaders often use history and analogies in their decisions. The roles of the Departments of State and Defense, the intelligence community, Congress, and the media are also explored as well as the prospects for U.S. national security reform. Emphasis throughout the seminar is placed on the national security decision-making system of the United States (and particularly on the Executive Branch), but seminar participants also are encouraged to examine and discuss the systems and actors of other states as well.

DHP P206M Maritime Security

Maritime security is a constant fixture in security headlines. Ranging from territorial disputes in the South China Sea to piracy near strategic chokepoints, maritime security challenges are varied and complex. This course seeks to unravel these challenges by examining the basic foundations of maritime security. These include the key technologies and technological trends which affect maritime security, the role of Great Powers, the importance of chokepoints, and future of non-state actors. Students taking this course will emerge with a nuanced understanding of security challenges in the maritime domain and knowledge of maritime terminology used by practitioners in the field.

DHP P209M Demography and National Security

Demography is a critical factor in explaining the stability of states, it is often missed by both policymakers and academics until it is too late. Why is it missed? Policy makers tend to be focused on immediate crises and events, while population change happens over the longer term, in slow motion. Academics tend to favor immediate and direct causal factors in explaining political instability, war and state death. How demography impacts societies and politics is too complex and too messy for contemporary analysis that tends to emphasize the search for causality through formal modeling and statistical methods. This course seeks to remedy these oversights by providing an introduction to key concepts and trends related to the study of populations and what it means to international and states’ national security. While demographers ask and answer questions such as ‘how many people, of what kind, and where?’ (facts of change); and ‘why did this come about?’ (determinants of change), international relations and national security experts need to understand why this matters (consequences of change). The goal is to build an understanding that enables scholars to better inform policy makers, and policy makers to be better prepared to grasp the opportunities and ameliorate the risks that demographic changes present.

DHP P233 International Security

This course examines the use of armed force in international affairs. You will examine theories of war and bargaining, conflict prevention and termination, post-conflict management, and the role of third parties. You will study civil wars, interstate wars, and insurgencies (including terrorism) as well as different forms of warfare, including conventional, nuclear, information, and cyber warfare. Although we will consider the nature of the state system and the structure of the international order from a historical perspective, special attention will be paid to the post-Cold War era.

DHP P241 Policy and Strategy in the Origins, Conduct, and Termination of War

This course employs case studies to assess enduring principles of war and their role in defending a nation’s interests and objectives. The works of three military strategists and four political theorists are examined to develop an analytical framework for assessing the origins, conduct, and termination of war. This framework is employed to analyze six major historical conflicts: the Peloponnesian War; the Wars of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France; the American Civil War; World War I; World War II; the French-Indo-China War/U.S. war in Vietnam.

DHP P243 Internal Conflicts and War

Instability, conflict, and irregular warfare within states due to burgeoning challenges posed by armed groups have proliferated in number and importance since the Cold War ended. With the spread of globalization, the technological shrinking of the world and interdependence of states and regions, these internal/transnational conflicts have taken new dimensions with far-reaching consequences. This seminar examines their patterns and evolution. Topics include examination of: the global strategic environment which armed groups exploit; the causes of internal/transnational conflict; types of armed groups, their operational patterns and strategies; and six case studies.

DHP P244 Modern Terrorism and Counterterrorism

This course examines the nature of terrorism; the spectrum of terrorist motivations, strategies, and operations; the socio-political, economic and other factors that can enable terrorist group activities; the unique threat of WMD terrorism; and the internal vulnerabilities of terrorist organizations. Students will examine current and classic research on terrorism, and explore many of the puzzles that remain unanswered. Finally, the course will analyze these critical issues within the context of policies and strategies for responding to the threat of terrorism with increasing sophistication and success.

DHP P246M Civil Resistance: Global Implications of Nonviolent Struggles for Rights and Accountability

This course is an in-depth primer on civil (nonviolent) resistance waged by ordinary people to bring about substantive political, economic, and/or social change. The course examines how and why civil resistance movements work, their historical record and outcomes, and the strategy and dynamics of asymmetric conflict when waged by civil resistance movements. Students learn several of the core skills taught by practitioners including conflict assessment, strategy and planning, tactics, and organization, and apply these frameworks to case studies. We will also consider how knowledge of civil resistance can better inform foreign policy choices including external assistance to civil resistance movements.

DHP P248 Strategy and Grand Strategy: Theory, Art and Practice

This course aims to build students’ understanding of the theory and practice of strategy and grand strategy and their influence on policy. It is a course designed for practitioners in which students are asked to think critically and creatively about today’s geopolitical environment, potential strategies, their implementation and their consequences. The course begins by examining the nature of strategy and how it is defined across the literature. It explores the historic origins and modern foundations of the field, introduces the concepts of power and statecraft, and considers critiques of strategic planning. Next, the course turns to a discussion of strategic art - the assessment, formulation, and implementation of strategy including the use of diplomatic, economic, and military tools of statecraft. The course concludes by considering the influences of culture, national values, and institutions on contemporary cases of strategy in the United States, China, Russia, and the NATO Alliance. Emphasis throughout the course is primarily focused on nation-state behavior but students are strongly encouraged to apply the course frameworks to other actors in the international system including intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and other non-state actors.

DHP P249 International Cyber Conflict

As a domain and instrument of competition and conflict, cyber space enables a range of global actors—including dissidents, terrorist organizations, and states with varying levels of offensive and defensive cyber capabilities—to assert influence, project power, and conduct activities in the increasingly ambiguous areas between war and peace. This course will explore the role of cyberspace in international conflict, including through the use of espionage, disinformation campaigns, and attacks; the course will examine the policies, strategies, and governance structures of key actors that operate within the cyber domain. We will also study why the development of international norms in cyberspace has proved so elusive.

DHP P263 Civil Wars: Theory and Policy

This course introduces students to the analytical and comparative study of large-scale, organized violence within states. Historical and contemporary civil wars will be analyzed from a variety of perspectives, and prominent cases such as former Yugoslavia and contemporary Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria will be discussed. The course will address the role of resources, grievances, religion, nationalism, interstate dimensions (including refugee flows and repatriation), external intervention, and conflict resolution. The course aims to provide students with solid theoretical and historical foundations, and to highlight the difficult policy dilemmas associated with civil wars. By the end of the course, students will be well prepared to think through policy options in the prevention and resolution of civil wars. Enrollment is open, and there are no prerequisites.

DHP P265 21st Century Intelligence and National Security Seminar

21st century challenges to U.S. intelligence are being influenced by two different security and conflict contexts. The first appeared in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. As peacetime turned into wartime, intelligence institutions were tasked with combating new threats posed by transnational, decentralized and networked armed groups. This had a significant impact on the kinds of intelligence methods and capabilities that were could meet these challenges, which differed from those employed against 20th century state threats. The second context is what has been characterized as the new era of “great-power competition.” For U.S. intelligence agencies this means that states will be the predominant target in years ahead, relegating nonstate armed groups to a secondary concern. To meet the challenges emanating from each of these security contexts, the U.S. intelligence community (IC) has sought to adapt how intelligence is collected, analyzed, and disseminated, as well as how it is employed as an instrument to help achieve policy objectives. A major theme running through the seminar will be to examine how U.S. intelligence has sought to make the necessary changes to adapt to these different challenges, and the extent to which the practices of the 21st century IC have been and will be affected by dramatic technological changes that may result in a revolution in intelligence affairs (RIA).

DHP P277 Introduction to Nuclear Security

This course offers a general introduction to nuclear security. It provides a comprehensive but concise overview of the topic’s main historical, theoretical, and policy dimensions. During the first part of the semester, we will discuss key concepts (fission, deterrence, vertical proliferation, etc.) associated with the post-World War II emergence of nuclear strategy, explore the superpowers’ Cold War competition, and study the emergence of new nuclear-weapon states (Britain, China, etc.). Once these conceptual and historical foundations in place, we will investigate the theoretical debates that have divided scholars on seminal questions such as the causes of proliferation, the effectiveness of the international non-proliferation regime (and of counter-proliferation), the impact of nuclear weapons on state behavior (war/peace, coercion, etc.), and the many constraints and forms of resistance that have emerged over time (norms, disarmament, etc.). During the third section of the course, we will examine the post-Cold War emergence of the “second nuclear age,” with a specific interest for nuclear terrorism, climate change, nuclear safety, and US primacy. Finally, we will probe the nuclear challenges that have (re)emerged in East Asia (China, North Korea), the Middle East (Israel, Iran), Europe (Russia’s nuclear resurgence, NATO’s extended deterrence), and South Asia (India, Pakistan). In each class meeting, we will cover these local nuclear powers’ historical emergence, their current status, and the US response. The conclusion of the course will survey the latest trends, including prospects for disarmament, the Trump Administration’s nuclear policy, and the impact of cyber on command-and-control systems.

DHP P291 Power in World Politics

Power is the defining concept in the international relations discipline, and yet there is no consensus about what that concept means. This is a problematic state of affairs. The need for a better conceptual and empirical understanding of power should be obvious. This seminar will confront these conceptual and empirical problems head-on. Through an array of scholarly readings and case studies, we will aim for a better understanding of what power means, its myriad dimensions, how it is perceived over time, and how it is exercised by actors in world politics.

EIB B223 Informal and Underground Finance

This course aims to study the role of the informal (off- the-books) and underground (criminal) sectors in the global economy, from multiple perspectives ranging from economic development to law enforcement and global security. In the past decades, the removal of financial controls, combined with technological advances, has allowed deviant globalization (drug trade, piracy, cybercrime, counterfeiting, human trafficking, terrorist financing, etc.) to prosper, creating governance and law enforcement challenges to governments and corporations alike.

ILO L216 International Humanitarian Law

This seminar offers an introduction to international humanitarian law, the body of law regulating armed conflicts. It retraces its evolution, focusing on efforts to mitigate human suffering in war and on the protection of civilians. It considers the challenges posed to the application of IHL by the changing nature of armed conflicts. The topics discussed include: the principles underpinning IHL, the definition and types of armed conflicts, the distinction between combatants and civilians, the regulation of private military and security companies, humanitarian action during armed conflict, the use of child-soldiers, rape as a ‘weapon of war,’ and other war crimes.

ILO L224 Peace Operations

This course looks at peace operations both as instruments for the management of conflict, and as a lens for understanding major issues in contemporary international affairs. Combining a thematic and case study approach, we consider the law, politics and doctrine of peacekeeping. Select cases are examined to draw out recurring themes and dilemmas, such as sovereignty v. intervention, peace v. justice and the UN v. regional organizations. In addition to lectures and structured discussion, the format of the course includes student presentations and a simulation exercise.

ILO L262 Foreign Relations and National Security Law

This course deals with the intersection of international law and United States constitutional law, focusing upon the separation of powers doctrine and the allocation of decision-making authority, international law as part of United States law, treaties and other international agreements, the war power and terrorism, the appropriations power, federalism, the role of the courts, and current national security issues. Open to students who have completed L200 or its equivalent, or with permission of the instructor.