Defense & Strategic Studies Courses
Courses
This course offers a comprehensive theoretical and organizational examination of the development of contemporary U.S. national security policy and strategy. The course outlines the U.S. national security apparatus, with a particular emphasis on the use of the interagency process. Students will examine and interrogate organizational structures, strategies and policies that attempt to ensure the national security system deploys multiple instruments of power to achieve strategic objectives.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
The course offers an advanced theoretical survey of classical strategy from Clausewitz to Mao and the application of strategy to warfare in the modern age. Strategic thinking on conventional warfare, irregular warfare, nuclear warfare, and cyber warfare will be introduced. The course finishes with a discussion on the contemporary constraints on modern warfare even as interstate power competition intensifies.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course approaches security from a global perspective, discussing security issues that transcend borders. Modern challenges such as pandemics, climate change and human migration are nontraditional and transnational, requiring coordinated action amongst states. However, the course also explores the return of 'classic' security issues directly related to power competition and interstate war. The course will introduce students to relevant International Relations theory and key issues such as health security, environmental security, energy security, and human security.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
The course is a detailed examination of the classical theory and practice of conflict in circumstances less than general conventional war. 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) will be examined. Prerequisite: Departmental approval required. Restricted to Level of GR.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
The course is a comprehensive survey on the theory and fundamental principles of non-kinetic tools used to execute national military strategy in times of conflict and peace. Influence strategies employing strategic communication, public diplomacy, military diplomacy, military public affairs, civil affairs, and psychological operations will be examined. Prerequisite: Departmental approval required. Restricted to Level of GR.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This advanced seminar will critically examine the ubiquitous nature of the cyber domain in modern warfare. Fundamental principles and case studies in cyber warfare will be covered to explain the importance of cyber power in national military strategy and in joint/combined operations, including defensive and offensive operations in cyberspace. There will be a particular emphasis on Russian and Chinese cyber warfare capabilities and operations.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course offers a deeper examination of U.S. grand strategy, through a theoretical and practical examination of its history, rationale, and key debates after World War II, through the Cold War, and into the complex strategic environment of the post-Cold War era. The course then critically interrogates the coherence and future of U.S. grand strategy in the remainder of the 21st Century, exploring crucial topics such as the U.S.' posited relative decline, great power competition, and U.S. domestic political debates. Keywords: grand strategy; great power competition, security cooperation.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Prerequisite(s): (DSS 5300 w/C or better AND DSS 5301 w/C or better AND DSS 5302 w/C or better ) AND (DSSX 5300 w/C or better AND DSSX 5301 w/C or better AND DSSX 5302 w/C or better)
This course is a detailed and systemic examination of the key security issues affecting the Western Hemisphere. A heavy focus will be placed on the role of this region in U.S. national security policy and strategy in a historical context, especially with respect to internal conflicts, political instability and economic inequality, as well as contemporary threats such as the impacts of regional transnational crime. The course concludes by re-examining the contemporary strategic importance and opportunities of the region amidst wider global events.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course is a detailed, systematic, and historically contextualized examination of the key security and strategic issues affecting countries across the African continent. The course considers the causes and implications of regional conflict, violent extremism, and instability - and the measures that are taken to combat these trends, including through U.S. policy. The course also explores contemporary strategic competition across the continent, and how that intersects with political and economic development.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course is a detailed and systematic examination of the key security and strategic issues affecting Europe. Placing the transatlantic alliance in historical context from the end of the Second World War to the present day, the role of Europe in U.S. national security and grand strategy is outlined and debated. There is a heavy focus on relations with Russia amidst the invasion of Ukraine. The includes a critical discussion of NATO's expansion as well as a contextual exploration of Russian-Ukrainian relations.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course is a detailed and systematic examination of the key military strategic issues affecting the Middle East. It also covers the ongoing strategic competition in Central Asia. A heavy focus will be placed on the role of this region in U.S. national security policy and grand strategy. The course broadly outlines the most pressing current security issues in the Middle East such as political instability, terrorism and radicalization through salafi-jihadi ideologies, and the conflictual competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course is a detailed and systematic examination of the key strategic issues affecting the Indo-Pacific. Students will gain an understanding of the modern history of the region and the contemporary security dynamics that are shaping it. A heavy focus will be placed on the roles of China, Japan, and India. The course will explain why the Indo-Pacific is the key region for U.S. strategy into the 21st century, and critically interrogate U.S. policies in key potential conflict flashpoints.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course is a detailed examination of the key military strategic and security issues affecting North America. A heavy focus will be placed on the role of this region in national security policy and military strategy, especially homeland defense. The course has a special focus on the regional security crisis related to transnational crime, and how that impacts the North American economy, its borders, and its people. The course also explores Arctic security in the context of a changing climate. Building understanding of U.S. security cooperation with Canada and Mexico is key to this course. Keywords: homeland defense; arctic security; transnational crime.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This course explains and explores the crucial domain of space within broader overarching U.S. national strategy. Students will learn the history and importance of U.S. space strategies. They will then analyze and interrogate the rapidly increasing importance of space for U.S. national interests, and how that increasing importance is affected by US policies and strategies. A special focus will be placed on space and great power competition over the decades, and the incorporation of commercial and international partners into evolving U.S. military, commercial, and civil space strategies. Keywords: space systems; space policy; space strategy.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
The concluding course in the DSS program develops several visions of future warfare based on an analysis of current trends in warfare, of emerging technologies, and of new concepts and theoretical approaches to warfare by renowned strategists. The students will be exposed to new concepts, such as precision engagement, network-centric warfare, and non-lethality. Potentially revolutionary technologies like robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology will be discussed, as well as their possible applications and usage in future wars.
This elective course will address specialized issues in Defense and Strategic Studies in depth. Topics vary.
Department: Defense & Strategic Studies
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours