NDU 6001: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

This course will focus on key technologies and scientific research that will shape military operations in the coming decades. Technologies covered will include topics such as robotics and unmanned vehicles, biotechnology and bio-inspired innovation, nanotechnology, advanced sensors, nuclear and conventional explosives detection, directed energy, and information systems. The topic of the potential impact on DOD of developments in energy technology will be discussed. The course will also discuss how some of the major military technologies of the past (e.g. radar and solid state electronics) came to be. The course will be taught by experienced scientists and engineers working at NDU’s Center for Technology and National Security Policy as well as by external experts. Students will visit sites in the area such as the Naval Research Laboratory. Those enrolled in the course will be asked to prepare a presentation on one area of technology and the implications of that technology area for national security.

NDU 6002: INNOVATION IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING NATIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

The course examines the role of innovation across the National Security community, including government, military, public and private partners. The emphasis is on future approaches and their effects on the changing national security environment. Topics include transformation as a component of the US national security strategy, as well as “bottom up” changes in response to specific military needs. The focus is on approaches to, and opportunities for, transformation, consolidation, or triage and the resulting impacts on the individual services, joint planning, and relationships with allies and partners, including civil-military organizations. The innovation needed to face near-peer competitors will be contrasted with that needed for stabilization and reconstruction, counterinsurgency, and related operations. The course will explore not only the opportunities provided by cutting edge technologies and new concepts of organization, but also the need to relate transformation to fundamental aspects of human nature and to implement changes across the full spectrum of people, processes and resources. The course will use lectures, outside guest speakers (including from the Office of the Secretary of Defense), and seminar discussions. Students are required to prepare a short analytical paper and a ten-minute presentation on a key aspect of transformation.

NDU 6004: REBUILDING WAR-TORN COUNTRIES

With the change in the strategic environment following the end of the Cold War, the United States has participated more frequently politically, financially, and militarily in aiding failed/failing states. The United States conducts operations to prevent, contain, or resolve regional conflicts that threaten its national interests. U.S. participation, however, is not limited to military deployment, but includes the diplomatic, economic, and informational instruments of national power as well. In the current war on terrorism, mitigating the threats that failed states present will continue to play an important role in U.S. policy. The Bush administration has recognized that to defeat international terrorism, we must defeat its political and economic roots through military engagement, political development and economic investment. These operations have evolved over the last 50 years in response to changes in the nature of conflict from that of interstate wars to intrastate conflicts. Traditional peacekeeping, therefore, has given way to more complex, multidimensional missions that combine enforcement actions with rebuilding activities. Often, these operations take place in conjunction with humanitarian emergencies and integrate a multitude of civilian players from international and regional organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the U.S. interagency community. Establishing and maintaining peace, the goal of any peace operation, requires more than the military creating a safe and secure environment. It also requires civil and political institutions that respect good governance and human rights, justice and reconciliation, economic and social well-being, and the rule of law. To achieve these challenging goals, military and civilian organizations must cooperate and coordinate effectively. This course will examine the roles of the United Nations, the United States, and nongovernmental organizations in regenerating war-torn societies—from peacekeeping to civil society development and institution-building to good governance cultivation. The focus is on developing a framework for analyzing the U.S’s approach to and participation in dealing with failed/failing states. Building on a foundation provided in the first two lessons, the course will analyze the sources of failure in states, the nature of international intervention, and civil-military coordination. A discussion of the challenges of post-conflict reconstruction will highlight the difficult, but fundamentally interdependent, relationships among the military, political, humanitarian, and economic developmental aspects of capacity building in war-torn nations. Ethical and legal issues in this regard will also be examined. The class will conclude with a simulation requiring students to apply lessons learned in class.

NDU 6007: BUILDING A MILITARY-CIVILIAN PARTNERSHIP FOR COMPLEX OPERATIONS

This course focuses on the evolution of efforts to create and institutionalize a “whole of government” plus private sector approach to new strategic challenges, including stability operations, counterinsurgency, and the global war on terror. What initiatives have the civilian agencies and Congress taken to promote a true military-civilian-private sector approach to complex operations and what more needs to be done? The course will examine how the various agencies within the U.S. government, especially the Department of State and the Agency for International Development, as well as the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, Treasury, Transportation, Homeland Security, Energy, and others are attempting to build capacity for a National Security Strategy that is formed around a triad of defense, diplomacy and development. What role should the private sector play across the triad? How should civilian agencies contribute to complex operations, and what resources and authorities do they need? How can the operational and planning capabilities of the civilian agencies be improved and how should they coordinate with the military? With respect to the military, what type of force structure, doctrine, and training are necessary for stability operations and counterinsurgency? How should military and civilian teams plan and train together? The course will look at civil-military cooperation, command and control, and staffing issues in conducting complex operations. It will examine Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan and compare them to past wartime civil-military endeavors, such as the CORDS program in Vietnam. It will examine recent initiatives to promote civil-military cooperation, such as AFRICOM, efforts by U.S. Southern Command, and the State Department’s Interagency Management System. The course will also review the role of the private sector in complex operations, with a specific focus on the management and oversight of private contractors.

NDU 6011: CONTINUNITY AND DISCONTINUITY IN NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS

The convergence of several major global trends will make the U.S. national security environment even more complex in the years ahead. Moreover, these complexities include the prospects of discontinuous "Shocks," either as a product of the trends, or through completely unforeseen events. Agile organizations and adaptive leaders will become increasingly important. In many cases, decisions to counter or mitigate the effects of the trends must be taken decades in advance to be effective, often on the basis of ambiguous evidence. This course will examine six major, interwoven, trends that are being addressed in the "Trends and Shocks" project sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy): Science and Technology; Demographics; Environment and Energy; Economics; Identity, Culture and Governance; and Nature of Conflict. Some aspects of long-term problem anticipation and decision-making will be examined. The course also will examine how other nations are analyzing the trends from their perspectives. Each class will consist of a mix of presentation and discussion. Guest lecturers will be invited as appropriate. Students will be expected to participate actively in class and produce a paper of approximately ten pages by the eleventh class period. The last class will be spent discussing the papers. Class participation and the paper will be weighted equally.

Disclaimer for External Links

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, The National Defense University, or CTNSP of this Web site or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, CTNSP does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD Web site.