US Decision Making

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor

This course will examine U.S. leadership decision-making in global, regional, bilateral, and multilateral contexts. It will explore interagency, intra-Departmental, and intra-Embassy foreign policy leadership challenges; as well as the skills and judgment required to lead policy and people during sudden political change in the country and in the United States, while confronting an insurgency and/or failed state, dealing with dictators, devising national security strategy, wartime and hostage situations, and other high-security threat environments. Consideration will also be given to differing perspectives of political and career service officials which often factor into decision-making and result in divergent policy outcomes. The instructors of this course will provide these contrasting views based on their respective careers. If you are interested in serving in the U.S. government, or in another government or institutional setting interacting with it, this course will provide you with an excellent foundation in and understanding of the myriad of challenges in decision-making and the broad range of policy instruments to tackle them. Focusing on techniques and the art of practice, some of the graded exercises in this course will include policy memoranda, briefings, oral presentations, team projects, and taking responsibility for consulting with current and recent government officials on a discrete project in global issues.