International Security Research and Analysis

An introductory survey of research methods, with special attention to how research can be utilized to inform policies related to international security. The course gives particular emphasis to the processes of identifying research topics and designing research projects. It will also address the basic elements of doing policy analysis. Students who complete the course will be able to read with comprehension and critically assess research produced across a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The course will also address how to write up and present research proposals and finished research products, and will consider the ethics of doing research. The course will be conducted primarily in lecture format, but some class time will also be devoted to exercises that involve active student participation.

This course examines the role of intelligence in the conduct of US national security. The course will cover the basics of intelligence, to include the intelligence cycle, intelligence requirements, types of collection and analysis, and the roles and capabilities of organizations that make up the US intelligence community. The course will look at the role of intelligence over history and include case studies.

LEARNER OUTCOMES:

1. Identify the members of the US Intelligence Community and describe their general responsibilities.

2. Understand and explain the different stages of the intelligence cycle.

3. Describe the various types (INTs) of Intelligence and corresponding US agencies in responding to national requirements.

4. Using a case study approach, understand the interaction between policy makers and the intelligence community.

5. Apply course content to write a paper on a member of the intelligence community or a intelligence collection capability and its impact to US policy.

Nuclear forensics deals with the science related to the determination of the origins of nuclear and other radioactive materials such as uranium and plutonium. It also deals with... read more policy considerations, such as attribution, which result from these determination. In addition to science and policy considerations this workshop will cover the current international efforts in nuclear forensics and survey the performance of conventional forensics in the presence of radioactive material. It will also touch briefly on elated issues such as radioactive crime scene management and expert testimony on nuclear forensics issues.

Students successfully completing this workshop will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the basic concepts of nuclear forensics science.

Demonstrate an understanding of the potential applications of nuclear forensics in the determination of the origin of nuclear and other radioactive materials,

Demonstrate an understanding of the terms and definitions that are used in the field of nuclear forensics.

Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the international efforts to cooperate in nuclear forensics analysis.

Demonstrate an understanding of the legal requirements for the introduction of evidence resulting from nuclear forensics analysis.

Demonstrate an understanding of the policy implications of attribution.

Understanding the complex dynamics of global politics requires examination of a number of issues and characteristics of the international system. The key objective of this class is to provide students with the ability to approach different perspectives to any global political issue. These elements of the study of global politics include theoretical frameworks and historical trajectories, without which no global issue can be understood adequately. Other topics of discussion will include global governance, transnational global problems, and the international financial system.

The course reflects the evolving nature of international relations, a continuous process since recorded history, which included the rise of the Westphalian nation-state system. The continuous transformation now includes the rise of non-state actors as influential participants and protagonists (not necessarily always benign) in the global system; entities that include terrorist and insurgent groups, non-governmental organizations, multi-national corporations, for example.

From Islam to Islamism: Exploring the Link between Ancient Religions and Modern Extremisms

What drives Muslim violence? Is there a link between Islam as an ancient tradition and Islamic extremism as a modern political movement? How should we understand the relationship between the Islamic faith and Islamist violence? In this workshop, we will explore the linkages and disjunctures between Islamic traditions and modern extremist practices. We will delve deeply into such concepts as sharia (Islamic law), jihad (holy war), istishhad (martyrdom), and takfir (excommunication). All these ancient concepts are central to modern-day extremism, including their justification of Islamic theocracy, violent rebellion, suicide terrorism, and sectarian genocide. These historic concepts are complex and subject to multiple interpretations, resulting in intense debates about their applicability in the modern era. In this workshop, we will put ourselves in the shoes of classical Islamic jurists, contemporary extremists, and Muslim moderates seeking to debunk present-day radicalism. This dialectic of the ancient and the modern should help us shed light on when religion drives political violence, and when it takes a back seat to worldly causes of extremism.

By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:

1. Identify the major sources of Islamic law (sharia), and explain how classical Islamic jurists developed interpretive approaches to resolve textual controversies in the Quran and the Prophetic traditions (Sunna).

2. Explain the three manifestations of jihad in the Quran, and how early Islamic scholars resolved tensions between peaceful and violent conceptions of jihad.

3. Discuss the difference between martyrdom (istishhad) and suicide in Islam, and how the two concepts were merged into suicidal martyrdom by present-day extremists.

4. Articulate historical and contemporary controversies over takfir (excommunication), and how this concept facilitates Muslim-on-Muslim violence today, including sectarian genocide.

5. Participate in a Red Team (ISIS propagandist) to understand the mindset of ideological extremists and how they deploy ancient texts to motivate modern-day violence.

6. Participate in a Blue Team (State Department Strategic Communication Center) to formulate a counter-ideological campaign to win the war of ideas against violent extremists.

This course is devoted primarily to a simulation of the postponed 2020 NPT Review Conference, which
has been rescheduled for the first half of 2021. The conference will involve multilateral negotiations on
the implementation of the NPT, with special reference to issues of nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation,
and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Based on the outcome of the 2015 Review Conference, the 2017
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and the results of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 NPT
Preparatory Committee meetings, one would expect major debates at the Review Conference on the
subjects of nuclear disarmament (including the US initiative on Creating an Environment for Nuclear
Disarmament, the “Ban Treaty.” and the impact of the unravelling of arms control accords such as the INF
Treaty on the NPT), nuclear risk reduction (and the deterioration of US-Russian relations), creation of
additional nuclear-weapon-free zones (especially in the Middle East), DPRK nuclear developments, the
demise of the JCPOA, other regional nuclear threats, negative security assurances, nonproliferation
compliance, international safeguards, nuclear terrorism, peaceful nuclear uses, and provisions for
withdrawal from the Treaty. The course will rely as much as possible on in-person deliberations, but plans
have been made to conduct the negotiations in a realistic virtual environment if necessary.

This course is an introduction to open source analysis used in the context of nonproliferation and terrorism studies. The instructors will give policy lectures as well as hands-on training in the lab. The course is designed as an overview of geospatial and data analysis techniques which are only just recently being applied to the nonproliferation and terrorism research fields. Students will study policy and intelligence analysis using deep web searching, ground and satellite imagery analysis, basic GIS, 3D modeling, crowd-sourcing, text mining, and network analysis.

The Nuclear Age: Historical Introduction

This course provides an historical narrative—constructed in a highly interdisciplinary fashion—of the nuclear age from the discovery of fission in the late 1930s until the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The course will trace the primary milestones—concepts, strategic doctrines, political and legal agreements, democratic and moral puzzles, and personalities—that were all involved in the making of the nuclear age. Our interest is twofold: the science and technology as well as the international and domestic politics of the bomb. As such the course provide basic familiarity with the history of the bomb—its invention, use, vertical and horizontal proliferation—and the history of the efforts to constrain, limit and even banning it. The course will be organized by looking at concrete historical milestones and their historical manifestation as well as by examining specific themes.

Workshop: Writing and Briefing Memos

The goal of this workshop is to hone students’ professionally-relevant, policy-oriented communication abilities, including memo writing and briefing. The course will include a combination of lectures, seminar-style discussion, small working group engagement, and individual student work.

Students will develop and hone digital investigation techniques as they learn a risk-based approach to tracing the source of blockchain funds and de-anonymizing cryptocurrency transactions with cryptocurrency forensic tools. From Cryptocurrency 101 to writing reports to aid law enforcement with writing subpoenas, after the completion of the course students will be able to:

-Trace the source of blockchain funds and de-anonymize cryptocurrency transactions with cryptocurrency (or blockchain) forensic tools

-Quickly risk-rate tokens, transactions, and digital asset businesses

-Use advanced open-source techniques (like darknet research) to help complete enhanced due diligence reports

-Produce reports that can be given to law enforcement for asset recovery