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 may 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 may 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 science or technology and the implications of that technology area for national security.

NDU 6003: WICKED PROBLEMS IN COMPLEX, CHAOTIC NATIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENTS

The course examines the kind of “wicked” national security problems that will be part of a complex, surprised-filled future filled, as well as ways for coalitions of business, government (civil and military) and civil society to tackle them. “Wicked” problems are hard or impossible to solve due to requirements that are contradictory, incomplete and changing, and often hard to recognize. The course begins with an examination of paradigm shifts and past innovations/transformations that have had major effects on national security environments. It explores forces that could lead to “wicked” national security problems. Changes in people, processes, organizations and technologies that will be needed to face hybrid warfare are contrasted with those needed to meet near-peer competitors, stabilization and reconstruction, and related missions. Classes explore opportunities involving cutting edge technologies and new organizational concepts while remaining grounded in fundamental human aspects of warfare. Future trends in land, naval, air, space and special operations are examined, as well as policy-making and long-range planning in whole-of-government contexts. The course will use lectures, outside guest speakers, and seminar discussions. Students will prepare and deliver a ten-minute presentation on a key aspect of a “wicked” national security problem.

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 U.S. 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: CIVILIAN SURGE FOR COMPLEX OPERATIONS

This course focuses on recent efforts to increase civilian participation in complex operations, which include in-conflict stabilization and reconstruction, counterinsurgency, and other forms of irregular warfare. It will explore in particular the Obama Administration’s evolving plans for Afghanistan, as well as recent experiences in Iraq. The State Department, Congress, and other agencies have taken steps to mobilize civilian capacity for complex operations through the creation of a Civilian Reserve Corps and an Interagency Management System. The Department of Defense has created a program to mobilize its civilian workforce for complex operations, and the geographic combatant commands, especially CENTCOM, AFRICOM, and SOUTHCOM, are increasing efforts to promote civil-military cooperation. This course will examine these initiatives and explore authorities, resources, agency culture, operational planning, training and education, and other issues affecting interagency participation and cooperation in 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. Finally, the course will examine the question of doctrine for interagency participation in complex operations and discuss strategy for population-focused operations and whether and how civilians can advance that strategy. Students will be asked to develop a short policy proposal for any aspect of building civilian capacity for Afghanistan.

NDU 6010: BIOLOGY ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Military operations including warfare in the 20th Century were revolutionized by physics (e.g. nuclear weapons, lasers) and information technology (e.g. computers, communications). The rapidly developing fields of biotechnology, bioengineering, nanoscience, and cognitive neuroscience will have a similarly significant impact on the Future Force of the 21st Century. This course will examine key scientific developments with a unique emphasis on the concepts of convergence and concilience of emerging scientific disciplines which will lead to entirely new military capabilities. The course will feature a number of guest scientists/engineers from the Service laboratories and students will be required to write a paper and make a short presentation on a topic determined in consultation with the course instructor.

NDU 6013: RESOLUTION OF ARMED CONFLICTS

This course examines the theory and practice of resolving violent interstate and intrastate armed conflicts in their structural, social-psychological, and behavioral dimensions. It discusses and applies concepts associated with the emerging field of conflict resolution. The focus of the course is on developing the intellectual skills necessary for planning and carrying out third-party interventions intended to move a conflict from violence to lasting peace. Students will examine the causes and potential cures of the wars and violence of the 21st Century through the lens of the theory and practice of conflict resolution. The course first focuses on identifying the root causes of conflicts. It then examines the elements and process of conflict resolution, in theory and practice, and how military, political, economic, and social means may be applied to prevent, manage, and ultimately resolve armed conflicts.

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