Course Description: This one-credit, five-day graduate seminar examines decision-making
from both a theoretical perspective and from its execution in practice. The course
introduces students to various models of decision-making; explores cognitive biases in decisionmaking;
and examines how decision-makers often use — and misuse — historical analogies and
lessons from history. The course also focuses on the concept of risk and decision-making under
conditions of risk and uncertainty, as well as the effects of groups and bureaucratic politics on
decisions. Drawn, in part, from the professor’s nearly six years on the National Security Council
(NSC) staff at the White House, the seminar will incorporate select examples from U.S. national
security. That said, the theories, pitfalls, and best practices studied