Description

This course examines the complex nature of key domestic and international security threats and how nations respond to them. While the traditional focus of security studies has been the phenomenon of war, the past two decades have seen tremendous growth and expansion of the field. Some scholars have studied the threat, use and control of military force, while others have studied various forms of political violence such as terrorism, organized crime, and insurgency or armed rebellion. Research in this field also incorporates scholarship on the politics of defense and foreign policymaking, traditional theories of international relations, comparative analysis of national and regional case studies, ethics and morality of security policies, and transnational issues like arms trafficking, piracy, and the proliferation of materials and technology for weapons of mass destruction. Overall, the study of national and international security has evolved into a complex, interdisciplinary field, as demonstrated on the list of journals and websites provided on the last page of this syllabus. Each lesson in this course draws on a large and diverse body of readings, including academic journal articles, government reports, and original source materials.