U.S. National Security

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course will be an introduction to how politics influences the development and implementation of U.S. national security policy. Students will examine the impact that bureaucratic and partisan politics as well as ideology and personalities play in the development of national security policy. Students will examine the evolution of the modern U.S. national security bureaucracy after the Second World War and then, through an examination of theory and practice, will examine the different ways in which personalities, bureaucracy, and ideology interact – and often collide – during the policy development process. Throughout the course, students will consider both historical and current examples of national security policymaking in order to compare and contrast broad themes and approaches to the complex challenges that face the United States. By the end of the course students will have an understanding of the dynamics that drive the U.S. national security policy and the role of not just the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in the process but also the impact that the media, advocacy groups, and lobbyists can have on the process.