6400 - The Domestic Context
and U.S. National Security Decision-Making

This course provides the students with an understanding of the complex reality of the domestic context in which American strategists must make decisions. It considers the domestic context from multiple perspectives. It evaluates how broad domestic political and cultural factors, as well as resource and economic constraints, affect policy formulation and execution. The course further examines the structure and process of U.S. national security decisions. Here the course considers both the historical, philosophical and constitutional foundations of inter-agency and inter-branch processes, and their subsequent evolution and current form. One element of this investigation is a study of American civil military relations. Finally, the course focuses on individual and group level decision-making, to include a discussion of individual leadership and legitimate dissent within the U.S. national security policy process.