Required Courses (EMIR-ONLY)
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A survey and critique of approaches to understanding foreign policy and national security decision-making from the perspective of the practitioner who must deal with problems of individual choice, small groups, bureaucratic politics, and organizational constraints in the conduct of foreign policy. Case studies and simulations will help to provide first-hand experience in policy decision-making.
PAI 700 | Foresight, Insight, and the Fiction of National Security | Tammy Schultz 895 | Managerial Leadership | Joe Funderburke (Spring Term)
While old paradigms seem to be failing us in war and peace, the creative management of national security challenges are more important than ever. We require new approaches – not reading the same, old texts, or using the same, old methodologies and theories. It is primarily for this reason – the need for imaginative, strategic leaders – that this class uses fiction as the launching point for discussion. As the 9/11 Commission noted in their report, “The most important failure was one of imagination.” Students in this course will use fiction as a springboard will hone several key student skills including creativity, the ability to better empathize with complex situations and potential opponents, understanding unfamiliar or strange cultures in order to consider unseen challenges and potential solutions and, grappling with ambiguity, contradictions, complexity, and ambivalence – entertaining for fiction but critical when considering the real world. Perhaps most importantly, students will hone their ability to ask the right questions – a prerequisite to finding least bad options, which is increasingly their job as they move into higher leadership positions. Finally, students will emerge from this course changed readers – better able to deconstruct (and reconstruct) text, think critically about what is read, and know when, and when not to, apply these frameworks.
PAI 895 | Managerial Leadership | Joe Funderburke (Spring Term)
This Washington DC taught iteration focuses on leadership and strategy in global affairs and is a requirement for the EMIR degree. Students will establish an understanding of the schools of leadership thinking, especially current trends, to practice requisite skills, and to plan for additional learning and development through assessment and action planning. Course readings focus on leadership theory and practice and their application in the changing organizational environment in a global workplace. Case studies, simulations/exercises, and guest speakers will augment group discussion.
PAI 996 | Master's Project Course (Capstone) | Barbara Petzen (Spring Term)
A core requirement for the EMIR degree, the Capstone requires EMIR students to complete substantive research projects while embedded in one of the thematic or regional programs at CSIS. Students work directly with CSIS experts on capstone projects designed to hone and showcase their capacity for both cogent analysis of real-world problems and effective policy communication. Students will craft actionable policy analysis and recommendations on a complex issue area as well as learn how to transform their policy analysis into an online project that communicates their results with clarity, creativity, and compelling multimedia storytelling. A final oral presentation and a written report to CSIS and the faculty advisor are the major course requirements.
Elective CoursesThis Washington DC taught iteration focuses on leadership and strategy in global affairs and is a requirement for the EMIR degree. Students will establish an understanding of the schools of leadership thinking, especially current trends, to practice requisite skills, and to plan for additional learning and development through assessment and action planning. Course readings focus on leadership theory and practice and their application in the changing organizational environment in a global workplace. Case studies, simulations/exercises, and guest speakers will augment group discussion.
PAI 996 | Master's Project Course (Capstone) | Barbara Petzen (Spring Term)
A core requirement for the EMIR degree, the Capstone requires EMIR students to complete substantive research projects while embedded in one of the thematic or regional programs at CSIS. Students work directly with CSIS experts on capstone projects designed to hone and showcase their capacity for both cogent analysis of real-world problems and effective policy communication. Students will craft actionable policy analysis and recommendations on a complex issue area as well as learn how to transform their policy analysis into an online project that communicates their results with clarity, creativity, and compelling multimedia storytelling. A final oral presentation and a written report to CSIS and the faculty advisor are the major course requirements.
Elective Courses
PAI 700 | Foresight, Insight, and the Fiction of National Security | Tammy Schultz (Spring Term)
While old paradigms seem to be failing us in war and peace, the creative management of national security challenges are more important than ever. We require new approaches – not reading the same, old texts, or using the same, old methodologies and theories. It is primarily for this reason – the need for imaginative, strategic leaders – that this class uses fiction as the launching point for discussion. As the 9/11 Commission noted in their report, “The most important failure was one of imagination.” Students in this course will use fiction as a springboard will hone several key student skills including creativity, the ability to better empathize with complex situations and potential opponents, understanding unfamiliar or strange cultures in order to consider unseen challenges and potential solutions and, grappling with ambiguity, contradictions, complexity, and ambivalence – entertaining for fiction but critical when considering the real world. Perhaps most importantly, students will hone their ability to ask the right questions – a prerequisite to finding least bad options, which is increasingly their job as they move into higher leadership positions. Finally, students will emerge from this course changed readers – better able to deconstruct (and reconstruct) text, think critically about what is read, and know when, and when not to, apply these frameworks.
PAI 700 | Environmental Security | Marisol Maddox
This course focuses on the role of natural resources/environment/climate change in conflict and security, including its foundational role in economic and military security, from driving conflict and migration to being used as a tool in resolving conflict and peacebuilding.
PAI 700 | Disinformation and Influence in the Digital Age | Nina Jankowicz Disinformation has always been a tactic of political and social influence, but the advent of social media and targeted advertising has increased its potency and efficacy. How are nation states and domestic actors using online disinformation to shore up power and profit, and how can policymakers address this threat to democracy while keeping its values intact? This course will examine the elements of foreign policy, tech policy and regulation, changes in the media environment, and government responses that affect digital disinformation and its success, and equip students to critically observe and analyze this fast-changing sphere. Students will engage in seminar style discussions, meet with policymakers handling these key issues, and have some hands-on time to better understand the dynamics driving disinformation.
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PAI 715 | The Emerging Challenge of Disruptive Technologies| Andrew Whiskeyman
This course will examine how disruptive technology may impact a nation’s approach toward its use of diplomacy, information, military, and economic power to advance national objectives. Students will investigate key concepts and impediments to the adoption of technology by organizations and individuals, make educated predictions regarding the role technology could play in competition in the international arena, and assess ethical factors involved in the use of technology, both old and new.
PAI 715: Congress and the Making of U.S. Foreign Policy | David McKean and David Wade
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