PA 309.2: Introduction to National Security [63845]
Instructor: David Wolff / Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-11:00am / 50 seats
NOTE: This course is a required course for the LBJ School’s National Security minor
This course is an undergraduate-level, interdisciplinary overview of U.S. national security. It is designed to provide and integrate core knowledge of the definitions, legal authorities, historic policies, key institutions, and functional processes that shape national security decision-making. National Security involves the protection and advancement of national interests, the avoidance of international conflict, if possible, and the means of achieving victory over our nation’s adversaries, when necessary.In addition to learning more about each of the major national security institutions and the tools that they possess, it is important to understand the nature of the interplay that occurs between them. That inevitably leads to trade-offs that need to be weighed carefully before our political leaders arrive at their impactful decisions. Decisions that may affect countries, regions, and even the entire world. Therefore, once you have gained a solid understanding of the various parts of the national security ecosystem, we will explore how they all come together as a whole and the types of opportunities and challenges that can generate. To develop that understanding, we will review and discuss several of the most historic national security decisions made by former U.S. presidents. Finally, you will be given the opportunity to step into their shoes and adjudicate potential responses to imagined future national security crisis scenarios. That will be carried out via a decision-making game designed for the class to practice in your very own “Situation Room” – the kind of real-world security deliberations in which you yourself may one day participate.