The National Security Cycle

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In this course, team-taught by a former intelligence officer and a former senior defense official, students will examine the interplay within U.S. national security enterprise, and how it responds to both internal and external inputs. Through a mixture of theoretical, historical and current events reading, as well as practical exercises and projects, students will gain a broad understanding of the inputs, challenges, pressures and feedback loops within the national security enterprise. We will examine the interplay of bureaucratic and political players that both inform and respond to national security requirements, the role of analysis, and the pathologies that stand in the way of efficiency, effectiveness and coherent policy. One particular focus will be the challenges of translating strategic choices into fielded military or diplomatic capability through sustained investment, especially in the face of changing intelligence estimates and priorities