U.S. National Security Policy

Readings

[G] = Roger Z. George and Harvey Rishikof, editors, The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth, 2nd edition (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2017). ISBN: ‎9781626164406.

Foundations

Class 1: Introduction

• U.S. National Security Strategy (2022). (PDF) Read 2-page opening statement and Part I.
• Sam Sarkesian, John Allen Williams, and Stephen Cimbala, U.S. National Security: Policymakers, Processes & Politics (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2008), Chapter 1 (PDF). ISBN: 9781588264169.

Class 2: The Global and Domestic Context

• Ole R. Holsti, “Models of International Relations and Foreign Policy,” Diplomatic History 13, no. 1 (January 1, 1989): 15–43.
• Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Jessica D. Blankshain, and David A. Cooper, Decision-Making in American Foreign Policy: Translating Theory into Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), Chapter 9. ISBN: ‎9781108427142.

Class 3: The Constitution and National Security

• Constitution of the United States (1789), Articles I–III.
• James E. Baker, In the Common Defense: National Security Law for Perilous Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), Chapter 4. ISBN: 9780511509759.

The Actors and the Process

Class 4: The President

• Sam Sarkesian, John Allen Williams, and Stephen Cimbala, U.S. National Security: Policymakers, Processes & Politics (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2008), Chapter 4. ISBN: 9781588264169.
• John C. Yoo, “The President’s Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations against Terrorists and Nations Supporting Them.” (September 25, 2001).
• Watch five-minute overview of United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation (1936). YouTube.
• Neal Devins and Louis Fisher, “The Steel Seizure Case: One of a Kind?” (PDF), Constitutional Commentary 19, no. 63 (2002): 63–86.

Class 5: Congress

• James M. Lindsay, Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), Chapters 1 and 3. ISBN: ‎9780801848810.
• The War Powers Resolution (1973).
• Authorization on the Use of Military Force (2001) (PDF).

The Arab Spring: To Intervene or Not to Intervene

• Testimony by Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh U.S. Department of State on Libya and War Powers Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (June 28, 2011) (PDF).
• Ben Rhodes, “Inside the White House During the Syrian ‘Red Line’ Crisis,” The Atlantic, June 3, 2018.

Class 6: The Courts

• [G] Harvey Rishikof, “The US Supreme Court: The Cult of the Robe in the National Security Enterprise,” 300–19.
• Matthew C. Waxman, “Can Courts Be ‘Trusted’ in National Security Crises?” (PDF) (The Foundation for Law, Justice, and Society, 2009), 1–7.

The Courts in World War II

• Executive Order No. 9066: Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas (February 19, 1942).
• Korematsu v. United States (1944) (PDF)—Justice Jackson (Dissent, pp. 242–47) and Justice Black (Majority, pp. 215–24) Decisions.
• Ludecke v. Watkins (1948).

Class 7 and 8: The Interagency Process and National Security Decision-Making

• National Security Memorandum 2: Renewing the National Security Council System, February 4, 2021.
• [G] Jon J. Rosenwasser and Michael Werner, “History of the Interagency Process for Foreign Relations in the United States: Murphy’s Law?,” 13–31. [Preview with Google Books]
• [G] David P. Auerswald, “The Evolution of the NSC Process,” 32–56. 
• Neil Snyder, “National Security in Presidential Time: The Politics of the National Security Council,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 53, no. 4 (2023): 517–42.
• Ole Holsti, “Crisis, Stress, and Decision-Making,” in American Defense Policy, eds. Peter L. Hays, Brenda J. Vallance, and Alan Van Tassel, 7th edition (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 248–57. ISBN: 9780801854729.
• Irving Janis, “The Groupthink Syndrome,” in American Defense Policy, eds. Peter L. Hays, Brenda J. Vallance, and Alan Van Tassel, 7th edition (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 258–61. ISBN: 9780801854729.

Class 9 and 10: The U.S. Military

• Defense Primer: Commanding U.S. Military Operations (PDF). (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2020.)
• [G] Joseph McMillan and Franklin C. Miller, “The Office of the Secretary of Defense,” 120–41.
• [G] Michael J. Meese and Isaiah Wilson III, “The Military: Forging a Joint Warrior Culture,” 142–62.
• 2022 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America (PDF). Read III–IV (Secretary of Defense Memo) and 1–23.
• 2022 National Military Strategy (PDF). Read 2–7.
• James Golby and Mara Karlin, “The Case for Rethinking the Politicization of the Military,” Task & Purpose. June 12, 2020.

Optional (but highly recommended)

• Risa Brooks, “Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States,” International Security 44, no 4. (2020): 7–44.

Class 11: Focus Area #1 – Responding to the Rise of China

• Zhen Han and T. V. Paul, “China’s Rise and Balance of Power Politics,” Chinese Journal of International Politics 13, no. 1 (2020): 1–26.
• M. Taylor Fravel, “China’s “World-Class” Military Ambitions: Origins and Implications” (PDF), Washington Quarterly 43 no. 1 (2020): 85–99.
• Anthony Blinken, The Administration’s Approach to the People’s Republic of China, 26 May 2022.
• “Joe Biden’s China Strategy is Not Working,” The Economist, 10 August 2023.
• Fareed Zakaria, “Biden’s Course Correction on China is Smart and Important,” Washington Post, 21 April 2023.

Class 12 and 13: The Intelligence Community

• [G] Thomas Fingar, “Office of the Director of National Intelligence: From Pariah and Piñata to Managing Partner,” 185–203.
• [G] Roger Z. George, “Central Intelligence Agency: The President’s Own,” 204–23.
• Joshua Rovner, Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011), Chapter 2. ISBN: ‎9780801448294.
• Roberta Wohlstetter, “Cuba and Pearl Harbor: Hindsight and Foresight,” Foreign Affairs 43, no. 4 (1965): 691–707.

The 2003 Iraq War

• Martin Chulov and Helen Pidd. “Curveball: How U.S. Was Duped by Iraqi Fantasist Looking to Topple Saddam,” The Guardian, February 15, 2011.
• Robert Jervis, Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011), Chapter 3. ISBN: ‎9780801447853.

Class 14: Focus Area #2 – Covert Action

• Michael E. Devine, “Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community” (PDF), Congressional Research Service, 14 June 2019. 
• Marshall C. Erwin, “‘Gang of Four’ Congressional Intelligence Notifications” (PDF), Congressional Research Service, 16 April 2013. 
• Michael Poznansky, “Feigning Compliance: Covert Action and International Law,” International Studies Quarterly 63, no. 1 (2019): 72–84.
• Lindsey A. O’Rourke. “The Strategic Logic of Covert Regime Change: US-Backed Regime Change Campaigns During the Cold War,” Security Studies 29, no. 1 (2020): 92–127.

Class 15: The State Department and U.S. Diplomacy

• [G] Marc Grossman, “The State Department: Culture as Interagency Destiny,” 81–96.
• Murray Shoon and Anthony Quainton, “Combatant Commanders, Ambassadorial Authority and the Conduct of Diplomacy,” in Mission Creep: The Militarization of US Foreign Policy?, ed. Gordon Adams and Murray Shoon (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2014), 166–91. ISBN: 9781626161146.
• Edward Marks, “The State Department: No Longer the Gatekeeper,” in Mission Creep: The Militarization of US Foreign Policy?, ed. Gordon Adams and Murray Shoon (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2014), 235–53. ISBN: ‎9781626161146.

Class 16: Focus Area #3 – The U.S. Response to Russia’s War in Ukraine

• Rachel Tecott Metz, “The Cult of the Persuasive: Why U.S. Security Assistance Fails,” International Security 47, no. 3 (2023): 95–135.
• “U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine” (PDF), Congressional Research Service, 22 May 2024.  
• Polina Beliakova and Rachel Tecott Metz, “The Surprising Success of U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine,” Foreign Affairs, 17 March 2023.
• Rachel Stohl and Elias Yousif, “The Risks of U.S. Military Assistance to Ukraine,” Stimson, 13 July 2022.

Class 17: Focus Area #4 – The War in Afghanistan

• Barak Obama, A Promised Land (New York: Crown, 2020), pp. 429–46. ISBN: ‎9781524763169.
• Watch “Bob Woodward on ‘Obama’s Wars’,” ABC News, September 28, 2010.
• Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, “‘It’s a Hard Problem’: Inside Trump’s Decision to Send More Troops to Afghanistan,” Washington Post, August 21, 2017.
• Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, and David E. Sanger, “Debating Exit from Afghanistan, Biden Rejected Generals’ Views,” New York Times, April 17, 2021.
• Watch “Gen. Mark Milley: The 60 Minutes Interview,” CBS News, October 8, 2023. 
• Johnathan Swan and Zachary Basu, “Off the Rails: Episode 9: Trump’s War with his Generals,” Axios, May 16, 2021.

Class 18: Sanctions, Tariffs, and Economic Statecraft

• Elizabeth Rosenberg et al., The New Tools of Economic Warfare (PDF) (Washington, D.C.: Center for New American Security, 2016), pp. 14–26 and 33–54.
• Daniel W. Drezner, “Sanctions Sometimes Smart: Targeted Sanctions in Theory and Practice,” International Studies Review 13, no. 1 (2011): 96–108.
• ———, “How not to sanction,” International Affairs 98 no. 5 (2022): 1533–52.

Optional

• [G] Dina Temple-Raston and Harvey Rishikof, “The Department of the Treasury: Brogues on the Ground,” 162–84.

Class 19: Focus Area #5 – Confronting Nuclear Proliferation

• Vipin Narang, “Nuclear Strategies of Emerging Nuclear Powers: North Korea and Iran,” Washington Quarterly 38, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 73–91.
• Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate, 3rd edition (New York: W.W. Norton), Chapters 1 and 2. ISBN: ‎9780393920109.
• Rachel Whitlark, “Nuclear Beliefs: A Leader-focused Theory of Counter-Proliferation,” Security Studies 26, no. 4 (2017): 545–74.
• Listen: The Deal Podcast: Season 2, Episode 1.

Class 20: In-class midterm

• No readings assigned

Class 21: Focus Area #6 – Countering Global Terrorism

• Bruce Hoffman, “Rethinking Terrorism and Counterterrorism Since 9/11,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 25, no. 5 (2011): 303–16.
• Jenna Jordan, “When Heads Roll: Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Decapitation” (PDF), Security Studies 18, no. 4 (2009): 719–55.

Targeted Killings in the Global War on Terrorism

• Robert Chesney, “Who May Be Killed? Anwar al-Awlaki as a Case Study in the International Legal Regulation of Lethal Force,” in Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, eds. M.N. Schmitt et. al. (Stichting: The Hague, 2011), 3–13 only. ISBN: ‎9789067048101. [Preview with Google Books]
• Department of Justice White Paper on Targeted Killing of U.S. Citizens. (PDF) (November 8, 2011)

Influences on the Policy Process

Class 22: Lobbyists and NGOs

• [G] Gerald Felix Warburg, “Lobbyists: When US National Security and Special Interests Compete,” 323–40.
• John Newhouse, “Diplomacy, Inc.: The Influence of Lobbies on U.S. Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2009), 73–92.
• Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, “Transnational Advocacy Networks in International and Regional Politics” (PDF), International Social Science Journal 51, no. 159, (March 1, 1999): 89–101. 

Class 23: International Law, International Institutions, and Allies

• Charter of the United Nations (1945) (PDF), Chapters I and VII.
• Jan Klabbers, International Law, 3rd edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 203–19. ISBN: ‎9781108487245. 
• Barry Posen, Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014), Chapter 1, “The Perils of Liberal Hegemony: The Allies.” ISBN: 9780801452581. [Preview with Google Books]
• Michael Beckley, “The Myth of Entangling Alliances” (PDF), International Security 39, no. 4 (2015): 7–48.

Class 24: Public Opinion

• Erik Lin-Greenberg, “Soldiers, Pollsters, and International Crises,” Foreign Policy Analysis 17, no 3 (July 2021).
• Kenneth A. Schultz, “Perils of Polarization for U.S. Foreign Policy,” Washington Quarterly 40, no. 4 (October 2, 2017): 7–28.
• Andrew Payne, “Bringing the Boys Back Home: Campaign Promises and US-Decision-making in Iraq and Vietnam” (PDF), Politics 4, no. 1 (2020): 95–110.

Class 25: Focus Area #7 – The Crisis in Haiti

• “Haiti: Recent Developments and U.S. Policy” (PDF), Congressional Research Service, 1 February 2024.
• UN Secretary General’s Assessment of progress achieved on the key benchmarks established in paragraph 25 of resolution 2653 (2022) (PDF).
• UN Security Council Resolution 2699 (2023) (PDF).
• Brian Wasuna, “Aukot Petitions High Court to Halt Ruto’s Haiti Mission,” Nation, October 8, 2023.

Class 26: The National Security Budget

• [G] Gordon Adams, Rodney Bent, and Kathleen Peroff, “The Office of Management and Budget: The                
  President’s Policy Tool,” 57–80.
• Michael O’ Hanlon, The Science of War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009), 8–47. ISBN: ‎9780691137025. [Preview with Google Books]

Concept Application

Class 27: National Security Council Simulation

• “The Road to Crisis” (PDF).
• Watch “Ekuru Aukot: The President is Being Used by the US, We Can’t Afford this Service.” YouTube.

Class 28: National Security Council Simulation

• No readings assigned