Challenges & Opportunities in Intelligence and Decision-Making

This graduate seminar examines how intelligence is generated, interpreted, and used across three domains: national security, private sector/commercial competition, and humanitarian and intergovernmental response. Students analyze why intelligence succeeds or fails in each setting, how organizational culture and politics shape assessment, and how technology and open-source information are transforming practice. Through historical cases (e.g., Pearl Harbor, Iranian Revolution, Iraq WMD, October 7), contemporary crises, corporate and cyber incidents, and humanitarian emergencies, students compare analytic methods, ethical challenges, and the consequences of failure for different populations. The course culminates in a multi-week simulation and a final project in which students apply sector-specific frameworks to a complex, real-world problem.