Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies

Eligible students who successfully complete the 10-month full-time program will receive a Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs. Our students include members of U.S. government departments and agencies, congressional staffs, civilian representatives from the international community, and members of both the U.S. military and from the militaries of partner nations. CISA offers the Master of Arts Degree in Strategic Security Studies program both at its Fort McNair campus and at its Fort Bragg, NC campus, in coordination with the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The Master of Arts Degree in Strategic Security Studies curriculum offers a strategic perspective on the global threat environment, including the rise of newly empowered and politicized ideological movements; the relationships between political objectives, strategy, and all instruments of national power; and the roles of power and ideology. Through seminar participation and independent study and research, students will develop strategies for working with other agencies, with the United States, and with other partner nations. Through the combination of theoretical and practical learning, the program prepares professionals to develop and implement national and international security strategies for use in conditions of peace, crisis, and war.

Students who complete the Master of Arts Degree in Strategic Security Studies degree should be able to meet the following learning objectives:

(1) Analyze the 21st century geopolitical environment characterized by the rise of non-state armed groups and the uneven erosion of state sovereignty;

(2) Evaluate the roles of power and ideology, the rise of new empower and politicized ideological movements, and the basis for authority and legitimacy;

(3) Understand the relationship between political objectives, strategy, and all instruments of national power;

(4) Develop skills to think critically and strategically; differentiate between policy and analysis; apply knowledge to practice in collaborative and complex circumstances with diverse partners.