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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.
Maymester
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2024 Courses (May
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13 - May
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21) Maxwell-in-Washington
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PSC 786 | Russian and Post-Soviet Politics |Brian Taylor
Intro Session: TBD
This course is a graduate-level survey of the major issues in contemporary politics in the post-Soviet region in general, and Russia in particular. The seminar will very briefly examine the pre-Soviet and Soviet period, but the primary focus of the course is on developments since 1991. Topics to be examined include the Soviet collapse and transition, the nature of Putinism as a political and economic system, and Russian foreign and security policy, including US-Russian relations and the Russo-Ukraine War. We will meet with multiple guests from the DC area community of Russia and Ukraine scholars and practitioners.
PAI 703 | Current Policy Issues in US-Latin American Relations | Philip French
Intro Session: TBD
This seminar in Washington introduces students to the contemporary relationship between the U.S. and Latin America, offering the opportunity to discuss US policy in the region with current and former government officials, scholars, and non-governmental organization representatives. Beginning with an historical foundation from assigned readings, class lectures and discussions will focus on current policy issues: Is U.S. policy interventionist or neglectful? How are current the populist trends different than those of the 20th century? How do U.S. narcotics, terrorism, trade and immigration policies shape relations with Mexico and Latin America’s perception of the U.S. under the current administration? What can/should the U.S. do to promote stability in Venezuela, or security and prosperity in Bolivia, Haiti, and Central America? What are China’s interests in the region, and how should the U.S. respond? Can the region escape the boom-and-bust cycle of commodity-based economies? Students will discuss and challenge common approaches and assumptions, address major themes and current events, and explore possible responses to social and political change.
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Online Information session: Wednesday, April 17th 4-6 p.m.
GEO 700 | Authoritarianism Today | Natalie Koch
This is an advanced course on the political geography of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is often imagined as fitting in the neat political borders of a territorial state: some countries are democratic, others authoritarian. Yet scholars, policymakers, and practitioners all understand that authoritarianism today is not territorially-bounded – that authoritarian ideas, actors, and practices routinely stretch across international borders. How, then, should we define and locate authoritarianism? For those committed to democratic governance, how should we address the non- or extra-territorial challenges of authoritarianism? This class addresses these questions through examining authoritarianism outside of the traditional state-focused approach, asking how actors in different institutions and policy fields deal with the phenomenon. It draws on case studies from around the world, and testimonials from individuals working in various institutions around Washington, D.C. to examine the challenges of authoritarianism today.