Master of Arts in National Security 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.

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.

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.

Students will learn to analyze a state’s foreign policy and security decision-making. Students are introduced first to advanced case study analysis procedures used in analyzing foreign policy and security issues and then learn to explain and predict decisions and behaviors using models drawn from political psychology, rational choice theory, and game theory, which are the mainstays of foreign policy and security analysis. Students use the models introduced in the course to analyze foreign policy and security decision-making and behavior in a number of crisis and non-crisis situations. Prerequisite: NSEC500 Research Methods in Security and Intelligence Studies or other AMU 500-level graduate research methods course

This graduate course examines and compares the legal and criminal justice systems of different nations. It focuses on historical, political and social factors, and explains their influence on legal institutions and systems of justice with a particular focus on the nations of Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East. The course will place particular emphasis on law enforcement, courts and corrections across the globe. Students will focus on criminal justice systems across the globe in order to help enhance the understanding of how the criminal justice system of the United States functions within the community of nations.

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 explores the boundaries of this 21st century national security mission by examining the threats, the actors, and the organizational structures and resources required to defend the American homeland. It examines how we have shifted the emphasis to protect the US homeland from the defensive measures taken during the Cold War to both reactive and proactive actions against the wide variety of asymmetric threats posed by Global Terrorism.

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.

After examining domestic, international and trans-national terrorism, with special focus upon their roots, this course will expose the student to a variety of new indications and warning methodologies and analytic tools, as well as academic, government, and policy literature on terrorism forecasting. The course will provide students with the analytic capability, coupled with the knowledge of past terrorists operations, to understand the types of terrorist threats that are most likely to confront the U.S. and its allies in the short-, mid-, and long-term.

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 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 covers the theory and practice of joint warfare, by examining major conflicts since the mid-19th and joint warfare in the 1980s and 1990s. Students assess, through case studies, the impact of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 on the Department of Defense and U.S. national security strategy.

This course is a study of the contemporary factors essential and necessary to function effectively in joint or coalition warfare exercises at joint or combined headquarters. Students learn steps, techniques and concepts for effective joint operations planning and implementation appropriate to the operational or strategic levels of war.

This course examines the theory and practices associated with American Defense policy. The course will include investigations of contemporary issues such as force structure and force planning, use-of-force theories, threat analysis, and alliance relations. The roles of the President and the Congress, Department of Defense, Joint Staff, and the military Services are analyzed.

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.

NS525 examines the following topics in depth: US Covert Action & Counter-Intelligence; two notable cases of senior Soviet agents run by the CIA; the CIA and its activities as described at length by ten senior officers; a thorough examination of the Mossad by one of its former officers; Covert action in relation to the Presidency, and Espionage tradecraft, general equipment and operations. The course progresses further, to examine spy technology, its evolution and uses in context of Intelligence and national security. The ultimate sanction in Covert Action – assassination - is examined in historical depth. The course then moves on to analyze three diverse, contemporary covert action missions (in media format). The course goes on to assess the great challenges to national security, covert action, conventional energy sources, mechanical propulsion and the weaponisation of space, posed by the large-scale disclosures by military, intelligence & scientific witnesses involved in the [highest level of secrecy] Blue Book & NRO projects, and support activities.

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.

An opportunity for National Security Studies students to pursue an independent research project or examine a specific area of national security under the mentorship of a single professor. Students must complete 24 credits of study before taking this course. Participation is at the discretion of the faculty member. The course typically involves six or more telephone calls and production of a major research paper; there will be no examination. Students will submit a proposal prior to the start of the project, and a rough draft of the paper at week 10, both of which will count toward final grade. Prior to registering, students should first contact the professor with whom they wish to mentor their independent study, coordinate an agreement on the grading requirements, and then NOTIFY their Student Advisor with the name of their professor.

Explores the theory, practice, challenges and prospects for securing America against terrorist attack and protecting citizens and resources from the consequences of natural disaster, with special emphasis on how policy makers are resolving this dilemma. The primary focus is on fundamental challenges to the American political order and the strategic issues raised by the prospect of a long war against terrorism, and the dedication of significant resources for responding to catastrophic disasters which may come into conflict with the resources needed to fight a long-term War on Terrorism. The course draws heavily on current events and emerging policy solutions.

The Master’s Capstone Seminar option in National Security 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. 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 US or international security interest. Students who select to do a research paper take only the Capstone Seminar. The thesis option is recommended for those students planning security community analysis or professional writing careers or those planning to continue their education at higher levels.