Diplomacy, History and Politics (DHP) Courses

DHP D201 Seminar in International Relations Theory

For those students who do not plan to specialize in international relations, this course is designed to provide a grounding in the basic concepts, theories, and literature of international relations theory.  For those who plan on specializing in IR, the course is designed to expose you to a variety of theoretical approaches and debates that you will see repeatedly in your future career.  For those who question the need to understand feminist or Marxist approaches to social life, think of the course like Don Corleone would: keep your intellectual friends close, but your intellectual enemies closer. The more you know about approaches you dislike, the better equipped you are to develop a sophisticated and nuanced rejection of the approach.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D202 Contemporary Critical Theory on International Issues

This course is grounded in the key proposition of critical theory: that the categories and ideas we use to make sense of the world can and should be situated historically and within power relations. Drawing on a number of post-World War II theorists from traditions that might be described as postmodern, post-Marxist, feminist or postcolonial, the course challenges the concepts that frame analysis of contemporary international relations issues. The course is structured around five key themes: refugees, trauma and truth-telling, violence as a productive force, new forms of empire, and ecological ruins. Exploration of each theme will be guided by a series of theoretical texts, alongside narrative forms (memoir and film) and more empirically grounded studies. Students are expected to bring insights from their research interests and their previous work experience to deepen the exchange between theoretical and narrative texts, and practical issues. The course is designed to increase students’ confidence and ability to weave theoretical issues and approaches into their analyses of contemporary issues; and to stimulate an ethical discussion of how we conceptualize and engage with complex contemporary global issues.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D205 Global Maritime Affairs: International Trade, Security, Energy and Environmental Issues at Sea

Over 90% of international trade is carried by sea – the lifeblood of globalization. The world’s oceans also present a myriad of opportunities and challenges in international affairs, such as territorial disputes, opening Arctic sea routes, piracy, terrorism, strained fisheries, mineral and energy extraction, marine disasters, whaling, maritime security and technological advances in maritime domain awareness. The course will explore these issues and other maritime topics based on individual student interests. Course format is lecture and discussion. Writing and speaking skills receive considerable attention. No prerequisites other than a lively curiosity.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D206 U.S. Diplomatic Tradecraft

Designed to help students build the skills needed to succeed in modern diplomacy, including finding reliable sources of information on foreign events, analyzing how various events affect U.S. foreign policy priorities, writing for the workplace, briefing high-level officials, working with foreign interlocutors, and navigating the U.S. interagency. The focus of the course will be the U.S. Foreign Service, but students from other countries are welcome, as is their input and comparison on practices in their own countries’ diplomatic corps. The course will begin with a general overview of the history, structure, and culture of the State Department.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D213 International Humanitarian Response

Taught jointly by faculty from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and the Feinstein International Center, this course offers insight into the complex issues involved in humanitarian work and provides training in the practical field skills needed to engage in effective responses. Key topics include: humanitarian community and history; sphere standards; rapid assessments; humanitarian clusters: protection; shelter; camp coordination and management; food security; early recovery; water, sanitation, and hygiene; health; nutrition; education; logistics; and emergency telecommunications; program design, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation; field security; civil-military relations; media skills; mental health and responder resilience; localization and diversity; ethics and accountability. Over the semester, the course will also explore questions about how the current model of humanitarianism needs to evolve in a changing world. It culminates with a mandatory, three-day intensive field simulation. The fee to cover camping gear, food, and other equipment is still to be determined, but in past years has been in the range of USD 300.

Cross-listed with NUTR 0324

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D215M International Affairs Writing

This course is designed to strengthen the writing and communications skills of international affairs students and practitioners through hands-on writing training, workshops, critiques, and development of op-eds, writing samples, long-form pieces, and academic materials. By working with a professional foreign policy journalist, you will deepen your skills of writing and argumentation for different formats including policy papers, research papers, memos, articles, short form, etc. We will work on how to build a strong evidence-based argument and write analytically. We will critique writing and explore multiple drafts, outlines, and finished products. We will strengthen the art of revising your writing so you can feel confident with any writing assignment. From the basic tenets of writing, we delve into specific ways to enrich original writing for different audiences. Students come away comfortable with writing, and knowledgeable about how to find writing resources and to seek support and how to revise their own work.

Course duration: Module    
Credits: 1.5

DHP D218 Influencing Policy and the Global Debate: Writing Analysis and Opinion

Informing and influencing the course of public affairs requires an ability to write clearly, explain accurately and be convincing. It also requires an understanding of your audience, including its cultural values and how to reach it through social media. Whether you choose to go into government, the non-profit sector, business or the news media itself, you will have to master these skills for success in the public arena, be it to lead or to affect policies. In this course, we will study how to write analysis, which generally attempts to address questions of why or how or to explain something, and opinion, which focuses more what should be done. Opinion can include value judgments, but you must back both analysis and opinion with facts. You also must provide context and be complete, weighing contradictory but relevant information. You will be asked in the first class to submit a theme, region or country on which throughout the course you will write disciplined, well-written essays of 800 to 1,200 words. Your pieces must have some relevance to public policy today, but can focus on economic, legal, historical, military, business or political matters.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D219 U.S. Public Diplomacy

Equips students with an understanding of the principles and practice of public diplomacy and global communications as they relate to international affairs-- from social media to print, radio to television and the history of America’s role in public diplomacy. This is an interdisciplinary course that touches on history, conflict resolution, culture, and the range of geographic and functional issues that relate to public diplomacy. We cover everything from Ben Franklin to the Cold War and the formation of USIA to today’s debates over global messaging on democracy. We examine cultural diplomacy and how other nations approach diplomacy and communications.

Course duration: Full Semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D220 Processes of International Negotiation

This course explores the processes, rather than specific substantive issues, of international negotiation. Using exercises and simulations, it examines the nature of conflict in the international arena; the special characteristics of negotiation in the international setting; negotiation dynamics; the roles of culture, power, and psychological processes; and the strategy and tactics of international negotiation. Special problems of multilateral negotiation, and the follow-up and implementation of negotiated agreements are also examined.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D221 International Mediation

Mediation is one of many international intervention approaches to prevent, resolve, or recover from political violence. It is practiced by individuals, international and transnational organizations, small and large states, and in bilateral or multilateral contexts. This seminar focuses on the ways in which mediators in the international arena carry out their third-party roles. Topics to be covered include: gaining entry; developing a strategy; gaining and using leverage; and managing complexity. The seminar relies on detailed, extensive case study analysis to understand how international mediators operate in real-time, complex environments. Open to students who have completed D220 or equivalent.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D223 Theories of Conflict and Conflict Resolution

Offers an overview of theories of conflict and approaches to conflict resolution. It surveys theories of conflict that originate in various disciplines including sociology, political science, international relations, social psychology, and law. It presents multiple levels of analysis to explain both inter-state and intra-state conflicts. It also reviews approaches that seek to settle and to transform the relationships of disputing parties. This course will provide an in-depth and a critical look at leading theories of conflict and conflict resolution and will explore some of the major theoretical debates in the field.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D224 Negotiation and Mediation in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Past Lessons and Future Opportunities

Integrates negotiation and conflict resolution theory, international negotiation and mediation practice, and area studies within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Students will serve as active participants in their own learning by examining their ideas with people who have participated in negotiations or mediation in various rounds of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or senior scholars who have studied this conflict. The first half of the course will explore the Israeli and Palestinian narratives and will review the conflict’s historical developments since 1948. It will also review briefly main concepts and theories of negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution. The second half relies heavily on high-ranking guest speakers from the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinian territories in an effort to give students formal and informal opportunities to interact with professionals who have had first-hand experience negotiating or mediating in this conflict.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D225 Conflict Resolution Practice

Focuses on three crucial aspects of conflict resolution practice: conducting a conflict assessment; facilitating discussions and consensus building processes in the context of intergroup conflict; and designing and conducting effective dialogues between contending identity groups. The seminar will emphasize the applied aspects of these processes and will use demonstrations, films, exercises, and guest lecturers. It will culminate with organizing and conducting a problem-solving workshop under the leadership of the instructor. Open to students who have completed D223.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D227M Small States, Asymmetry and Influence

More than 190 countries are members of the United Nations, and more than half of them can be considered small states in some way. The study of International Relations (IR) has primarily focused on the "big powers," despite the significance of small states in understanding and navigating the current global landscape. While there is no consensus on the best definition of small states, they play a critical role in shaping today's world. The increasing influence of small states and their organizations in multilateral discussions is undeniable. The Forum of Small States (FOSS), which was established by Singapore, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) that emerged in response to the Climate Crisis, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Central America Integration System (SICA) are just a few examples of the diverse groupings of small states which are relevant international and multilateral players.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D228M Protracted Social Conflict: Dynamics, Major Issues and Possible Consequences

Distinguishing protracted social conflict from other types of international and ethnic conflicts, we will review contending frameworks that examine sources of social conflict and its political, economic, societal, and psychological dynamics. In particular, we will examine: the role of social identity; culture and the conditions under which religion plays constructive and destructive roles in conflict escalation and de-escalation; the dynamics of escalation, stalemate, and de-escalation; the political and cultural basis of genocide, mass killings, and ethnic terrorism; and the psychology of perpetrators and bystanders. Some conflict resolution approaches that deal with protracted social conflict will be discussed.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D229M Nationalism, Religion and Conflict: Comparative Approaches

Over the past years, the various forms of intersection between religion and nationalism have increasingly been invoked as potent forces in framing and perhaps driving national and international conflicts. This module examines the processes and mechanisms by which religion and religious claims, through their intertwining with nationalism, influence state policies—particularly in relation to conflict and interethnic relations in multiethnic states. The course will comparatively examine if state politics, when determined by or framed in terms of nationalism fused with religious claims, have the potential to provoke protracted conflicts, infuse explicit religious beliefs and theories into politics and modes of governance, legitimize the exclusion of groups—including of fellow citizens—on the basis of interpreting sacred texts, and condone or instigate violence in the name of religiously embedded claims. The course will also examine what types of interaction are needed between religion and nationalism in order to reduce or mitigate intergroup conflict.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D230 Humanitarian Action in Complex Emergencies

This multi-disciplinary course covers a broad range of subjects, including the evolution of the international humanitarian system, the political economy of conflicts and humanitarian aid, analytical and normative frameworks for humanitarian action, and a variety of programmatic topics. By the end of this course you will be aware of the historical, legal, social, political and moral context of both the causes and responses to complex humanitarian emergencies, and have a working knowledge of the principles and standards for performing humanitarian response to complex humanitarian emergencies. This course is cross-listed with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Cross-listed with NUTR 0229

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D231 Gender and Human Security in Transitional States and Societies

This course uses gender as a key analytical tool to examine states and societies transitioning from large-scale social and political upheaval. It explores key gender dimensions of such transitions and their implications for states, societies and citizens, including those that have moved toward more democratic forms of governance and those that transitioned (or appear to be transitioning) into more authoritarian or fundamentalist regimes. The course balances a population-focused approach (examining the evolving roles, expectations, and norms for men, women, boys and girls) with an analysis of the health, humanitarian, development, security, justice/legal, and governance sectors.

Cross-listed with NUTR 0242

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D232 Gender, Culture and Conflict in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

This course examines situations of armed conflict, civilian experiences of these crises, and the international and national humanitarian and military responses to these situations from a gender and intersectional perspective and highlights the policy and program implications that this perspective presents. Topics covered include gender and intersectional analyses of current trends in armed conflict and terrorism, and of the links among war economies, globalization and armed conflict; the manipulation of gender roles to fuel war and violence; gender and livelihoods in the context of crises; masculinities in conflict; sexual and gender-based violations; women’s rights in international humanitarian and human rights law during armed conflict; gender and humanitarian response; gender and armed opposition groups; and gender peacebuilding. Case studies are drawn from recent and current armed conflicts worldwide. This course is cross-listed with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Cross-listed as NUTR 0222.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D234 Humanitarian Leadership: The Political and Policy Challenges of Being in Charge

NUTR 329/D234 is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of leadership actions in extreme contexts and how politics and policy affect the choices leaders make in humanitarian assistance programs. The course also will cover leadership concepts to enable students to extract lessons to begin to develop a personal leadership style, and political frameworks that enable the student to better analyze such influences on humanitarian actions. The course will examine political and policy ramifications for decision makers in humanitarian settings through review of various institutions that conduct humanitarian activities, but are part of larger systems with other considerations. Through use of case studies, the course will help students identify how specific leaders dealt with major issues in humanitarian crises, the successes and failures attendant to those decisions, and the consequences of those actions. The course is designed to also help students begin to build their own leadership skills and styles.

Course is cross-listed with NUTR 0329.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D235M Overview of Research Methods

This is the introductory research module for Masters and PhD students, and is the foundation for Fletcher’s ‘Research Track.’ This module prepares students to come up with a draft research proposal that will be more fully fleshed out through a detailed exploration of qualitative and survey methods in subsequent modules. Research Module 1 has the following goals: - to learn how to conceptualize and write up the design for any research project, - to provide an overview of qualitative, quantitative, and ‘mixed methods’ - understand case studies from different social science perspectives - to develop a critical awareness of what constitutes sound empirical research and what does not.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D237 Nutrition in Complex Emergencies: Policies, Practice and Decision-making

The course will introduce students to the concept of Public Nutrition and examine its central role in complex emergencies. The implications of the Public Nutrition approach for assessment and analysis, policy development, program design and implementation will be examined. This will provide an understanding of; the causes and nutritional outcomes of humanitarian crises and complex emergencies (malnutrition, morbidity and mortality). The course has a field oriented focus based on a wide range of recent and past food and nutrition crises ranging. The course reviews international response strategies, nutrition programmes and relevant policies; and incorporates relevant applied research. The course provides the opportunity for active class participation drawing upon the actual work experience of the students and applying a range of up-to-date case-study materials based on current humanitarian crises. This course is cross-listed with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Cross-listed with NUTR 0308

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D238 Current Issues in Global Immigration Policy

This is a comparative immigration politics and policy course, with a focus on national immigration policies and the foreign policy, security and development implications of migration. Since 2015 when the migration crisis took hold in Europe, long-standing debates over how to reconcile foreign policy interests, national security concerns, and the humanitarian and development implications of migration have re-emerged at a global scale. This course takes a comparative perspective to these issues, comparing the experience of the US, EU, other OECD and selected middle- and low-income countries. The first half of the course explores general issues, the second half focuses more closely on specific countries. It is an introductory level course, intended for students with little or no background in comparative policy or global migration, beyond a familiarity with current events expected of any Fletcher student.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D239 Forced Migration

The course is an exploration of how forced displacement, which includes trafficking, and other forms of involuntary migration, relates to the broader spectrum of migration stemming from persecution, development, natural disaster, environmental change, and impoverishment. We begin with an analysis of the root causes of migration, then review the international legal framework, and analyze asylum and refugee policies in different national contexts. The course will explore a range of critical issues including current controversies about climate change and migration, urbanization, trafficking, and new approaches to humanitarian assistance and protection. The course focuses on refugee and IDP movements, but adopts a wider perspective so as to address all kinds of global movements.

Cross-listed with NUTR 0243

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D240 Children, Violence, Protection, and Resilience

Drawing upon relevant theories, concepts and frameworks, and using a thematic approach and case studies, this class explores children and childhood, gender, violence, protection and resilience in both development settings and humanitarian crises. After a deep grounding of what constitutes a `child’, `childhood,’ child protection, children’s international rights and resilience, we use gender and intersectional analyses to explore children and nutrition; children, adversity and mental and physical health; child labor and child slaves; children `on the streets’; children and migration, displacement and resettlement; child brides and grooms; children and political violence; child soldiers; and conducting research with children. Throughout the course students will engage in conducting gender and intersectional child protection analyses for both development settings and humanitarian crises.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D241 Climate and Migration

This course explores the ways in which people are displaced by the destruction of our environment, the role of financial capitalism in that destruction, and the consequences for climate change and global migration. Through the lens of global supply chains, we explore the connections between economic development and global capitalism, environmental impact, human mobility and climate change. Through case studies we explore different supply chains, and the interaction of their links with the environment, migration, and climate change and consequently, human security and justice. The course provides a perspective on the fast-growing body of research on climate change and migration, and explores the associated challenges of human security and environmental justice. The course explores potential policy responses and technological solutions, including positive interventions in supply chains, and ends with a perspective on pandemics response at the national and international level. Participants will gain an exposure to academic and non-academic literature and case studies from different regions. Flexible course assignments will offer students an opportunity to delve deeper into topics of their interest.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D242 Famine, Livelihoods, and Resilience: Food Security Analysis and Response in Crisis

After a decade of absence, famine returned with a vengeance in Somalia in 2011, and in 2017-18, there were four countries at imminent risk of famine. While this return highlights the extreme risks of famine, particularly in conflict-affected areas, it also raises again the limited progress made in addressing the underlying causes of severe food insecurity. “Resilience” has been the good word of the decade, but limited progress has been made in building greater resilience among the poorest or most marginalized populations, and the livelihoods of these populations are under more stress now than ever. This class will draw primarily on the international experience of the co-leaders but will attempt to draw on domestic US cases as well. This seminar class will consider new (and some not so new) approaches to this kind of the understanding and analysis of, and response to, food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition among crisis-prone populations. Students can register for this course as either 3.0 or 1.5 SHUs. Students must register for 3.0 SHUs and then contact FletcherRegistrar@tufts.edu to register for 1.5 to have their enrollment adjusted.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D243M Overview of Survey Methods

This module expects that students will come to the course with a developed research question and hypotheses to be tested using survey data. This module focuses on how to use survey methods, to explore research questions, test hypotheses, and combine with qualitative data in mixed methods designs. It has three broad goals: familiarize with different kinds of large-N data (e.g. Big Data, census, RCTs) and establish how surveys are one type); enable students to design and implement a household survey; give students hands-on experience in implementing a pilot survey and analyzing survey data; show how and why survey data can be combined with qualitative methods to enable ‘mixed methods’. Prerequisite: DHP D235M or equivalent preparation.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D244M Introduction to Qualitative Field Research Methods

This module builds on DHP D235M and expects that students will come to the course with a developed research question that they want to explore using qualitative methods in various field settings. The course is highly practical with short assignment due for nearly every class. Primary Course Objectives: students develop good observational, interview, note-taking and recording skills; students know how to validate/verify information; students can classify (code) and analyze qualitative data; students develop concrete calls to action — policies, products, and programs; students learn to write a policy brief based on their final projects. Prerequisite: D235M or equivalent preparation.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D245M Working in Difficult Research Environments with Vulnerable Populations: Advanced Field Research Methods

Drawing upon relevant theories, concepts and frameworks, and using a thematic approach and case studies, this class explores conducting research with vulnerable populations in difficult research environments. We will study the ethics of conducting research with violence and conflict affected populations. We will engage with the specific practicalities of the researcher and her/his team members working safely in these difficult environments, and best practices to help ensure the research and researcher do not harm the research subjects or put them at risk. We will explore a variety of means and best practices to carrying out field research with populations on the move such as conflict-migrants and refugees; survivors of gender-based violence and sexual violence in fragile states; children that have experienced violence and depravation; and victims of international war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prerequisites: DHP D235M and DHP D244M or equivalent preparation.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D246M Case Study Methods Research

Explores the use of case studies from a theoretical, methodological, and practical perspective. The goal is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the case study method and its place in a mixed methods research design. We examine the tasks and problems involved in all stages of case study development. The goal of the course is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to implement a sound case study, either as part of a capstone or a PhD dissertation.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D251 Leadership and Global Institutions: The UN and Beyond

Provides an introduction to the essential subject of leadership, focusing on the relationship between contextual factors and leadership. This course begins by reviewing theories of leadership, including normative and empirical traditions. It then explores the role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the leadership of two previous holders of the unique job in world politics. It then turns to the executive heads of various agencies and programs in the UN system and their roles in meeting the demands for leadership at the global level. The course considers the work of the World Bank’s president in defining the Bank’s contours and methods for international cooperation. It explores the functions of the African Union and its Chairperson in responding to Africa’s needs and aspirations. It examines global philanthropy which has become a significant force in global cooperation in recent years. It analyzes the transformation in the nature and importance of the role of NGOs in the global arena, with a particular focus on the contributions of think tanks and global policy networks.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D252 Grand Strategy

This course seeks to introduce students to grand strategy. Definitions of that art vary - and we will discuss those variations - but we can start by understanding it as the weaving together of different categories of power to achieve overarching objectives. The best way of understanding grand strategy is to study it in action. This course, therefore, takes us through a series of case studies in grand strategy. Some of these are studies in success, others in failure; most have elements of both (part of the challenge you will face in the course, as well as in real life, will be figuring out what constitutes success or failure). Grappling with them all will hone students’ skills in grand strategic thinking: that is, in formulating a policy that is all-encompassing, looks to the long-term, and is sufficiently flexible to survive the real world. Though the course is rooted firmly in security studies and history, the principles of grand strategy are relevant to virtually all aspects of the policymaking world and can be usefully applied to business, activism, and other realms of life.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D253 Global One Health Diplomacy: Holistic Approaches to Global Health Challenges

We start with the One Health premise that health of humans, animals and the environment are interconnected, and that collaborative, multi-sectoral, transboundary and diplomatic approaches are needed locally, regionally and globally to advance well-being across One Health interfaces.We start with the One Health premise that health of humans, animals and the environment are interconnected, and that collaborative, multi-sectoral, transboundary and diplomatic approaches are needed locally, regionally Global health diplomacy is concerned with how and why global health issues play out in a policy context. In this course we aim to develop skills and understanding required to bring policy and One Health communities together to achieve mutual objectives.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D254M Health Security, Emerging Infections & Outbreak Response

With increasing globalization of trade, travel and terrorism, public and individual human health have become topics of global concern, involving sovereign nations, international organizations and the scientific community. Threats from emerging infectious diseases outbreaks exemplify this trend. In contrast to the traditional idea of national security, the field of human security focuses on the individual, rather than state, as the nexus of analysis and takes a multidisciplinary approach through which to analyze the challenges related to community, national and global response to emerging infectious diseases epidemics. This course will start by examining human security literature and practice as it applies to infectious diseases threats. It will examine factors leading to increasing frequency of outbreaks due to novel pathogens, such as climate change and environmental degradation, and the concept of One Health. It will then look at the intersection between scientific research and related ethical issues, disease surveillance and global biosecurity issues. Further, the course will examine the historical basis for International Health Regulations and other frameworks for modern global health governance as they apply to outbreaks. Lastly, the class will utilize case studies to examine how outbreak preparedness and response have been managed during recent epidemics such as SARS, H1N1, MERS, Ebola and Zika. This course is meant to foster interdisciplinary perspectives by bringing together practitioners from international law, human development, public health and clinical care.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP D255 Environmental Humanities and Global Health

The contemporary challenges arising from global environmental change, such as climate change, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, freshwater scarcity, toxic contamination and energy scarcity, are important issues for scholars from not only the natural and social but also the human sciences. As a result of increasing concerns about global environmental change, over the last decade a new scientific field of research has emerged, the Environmental Humanities (EH). Whereas scholarship on issues of environmental change was formerly dominated by the natural, economic and social sciences — and by technological approaches to problem-solving — this relatively new and rapidly growing field is constituted by the work of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines within the Humanities, including history, literature, philosophy, cultural studies, religion studies, arts, architecture, and linguistics. These scholars are investigating how the human and human agency are to be understood in the age of the Anthropocene –the era in which humans have become a geological force with devastating potential (Croetzen and Stoermer, 2000). Emergent transdisciplinary fields, such as the environmental humanities and global health, reflect a growing awareness that responses to contemporary environmental dilemmas require the collaborative work of not only diverse scientists, medical practitioners, and engineers, but also more expansive publics, including artists, urban and rural communities, social scientists, and legal fields. Environmental Humanities thus marks an effort to explore and channel the creative synergy that is possible when scholars from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences talk across disciplines about the environment and environmental problems. Central to our concerns are the unequal access to resources as well as the unequal exposure to risk during a period of widening economic disparity. The readings in this course have been selected to help us discuss questions that span the disciplines and the globe: What does it mean to be human in a time of global environmental change? What should environmental ethics look like? How are political, social, and economic structures—and inequities—intertwined with ecological realities? How has our understanding of the relationship between culture and nature shaped our conservation efforts? How do our concepts of nature and of environmentalism need to change in response to our current situation? Scholars in the environmental humanities ask and seek to answer these questions, and to develop more equitable ecologies.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D258 Introduction to Data Science for Global Applications

Provides an overview of the principles and applications of data science. The first part of the course deals with the acquisition and handling of data, with an emphasis on contextualizing data and framing data analysis. The second part of the course will focus on tools and techniques for data manipulation and visualization. The third part of the course will introduce students to several methods for modeling data. The course will present both theoretical frame-works and practical tools for implementing various algorithms for regression, classification, and clustering. Students will become proficient in Python based tools for data analysis including numpy, pandas, and scikit-learn.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D262 Conflict Management in a Fragmented World Order

We live in a ‘multiplex’ world order where conflicts have become more diffuse and fragmented. Conflict management has equally become distributed, complex, and fuzzy. A wide array of actors, including governments, states, organizations as well as informal actors seek to shape conflict outcomes and intervene at different stages of the conflict resolution (CR) process. Against this backdrop, how do these actors’ strategies compete, interact, and intersect at the same time? The course examines the changing nature of multilateral conflict management. It offers a range of case studies that explore multi-actor interventions in violent/armed conflict, negotiations in peace processes, and multi-scalar peacebuilding initiatives etc. Additionally, it reflects on the role that organizations such as the European Union (the EU), the Arab League (LAS), the African Union (AU) and UN agencies can play in the management of geopolitical conflicts. The course offers a variety of interactive activities, such as in-class discussions, group work, guest lectures and a final role-playing exercise in which students simulate ‘fog and friction’ in a conflict scenario rooted in a real-world event.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D263 The Arabs and Their Neighbors

With a particular focus on the Arab world and the Levant, this course examines the evolution of nation-states in the Middle East from colonial rule to the present. Themes addressed include the rise of nationalism and pan-Arabism, ideologies of internal unity and regional tensions, Islam as a political force, globalization, reform and radicalism, the current Arab revolts, and the search for new alternatives.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D266 Peace and Democratization Processes: Cross-Comparative Perspectives

This course is about peace governance and the twin processes of peacebuilding and democratization in post-conflict societies. It examines patterns of governance after conflict, and their complex relationship with the quality of democracy, authoritarian resilience, and sustainable peace. The course addresses the following questions: How do post-conflict societies navigate the complex journey of peace and democratization? What are the trade-offs between peace and democratization? What role do various actors play in shaping peace and democratization outcomes? Lastly, how do practitioners go about sequencing peacebuilding activities? Students will gain analytical and conceptual tools to analyze peace governance and learn their application through various case studies and post-conflict scenarios. They will also acquire insights into practical missions such as electoral monitoring or designing town hall meetings in post-conflict societies.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D271 International Relations of the United States and East Asia: 1945 to the Present

An examination of the international relations of the United States and East Asia since the end of World War II, principally U.S. interactions with China, Japan, and Korea, and secondarily, with Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Focus on fundamental concepts and realities of international politics governing interactions between the U.S. and East Asian nations, as well as the major geopolitical issues of the day. Study of the continuing patterns of interaction among the U.S. and East Asian states—the dynamics of wars, ideologies, political, economic, and cultural issues.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D272 U.S.-China Security Relations

China’s rise is arguably the most important development of the 21st century and relations between the United States and China touch on every aspect of international affairs, from addressing climate change and responding to global pandemics to limiting the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting economic development. Relations between these two countries have the potential to touch every element of international affairs. In recent years, U.S.-China relations have become increasingly “securitized,” meaning that security considerations dominate. This course provides a survey of these relations today. While the course includes historical elements and considers how both China and the United States interact with the rest of the world, this course is strongly focused on contemporary security issues in the bilateral relationship.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D273 Cultural Diplomacy: Theory and Practice

Provides an in-depth look at how culture has been harnessed by nations to advance their interests worldwide. Beginning with a review of core definitions and principles, the course will move on to an examination of case studies from different countries throughout history to understand why this key element of soft power has come to be so valued by many nations and why it is an underdeveloped resource for others. Finally, the course will conclude with the development of scenarios for how cultural diplomacy may be utilized to address contemporary foreign policy challenges.

Course duration: Full Semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D280 U.S.-E.U. Relations in the 21st Century: Multidisciplinary Analysis of Transatlantic Affairs

The course will explore the origins of transatlantic cooperation and the creation of common European economic and political structures, notably the European Union, and the development of transatlantic security alliances, particularly NATO. It will compare constitutional governance in the differing federal systems of the US and the EU, explore centrifugal forces like Brexit that are testing the sustainability of the EU, and examine the populist and nationalist political movements and neo-authoritarian tendencies that are challenging liberal democracy on both sides of the Atlantic. Areas of economic cooperation and tension will be studied, including the financial crisis, international trade and regulatory affairs, and the failed negotiation of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership. The course will also take up cooperative and conflicting policies of transatlantic partners in addressing security problems of terrorism, failed states, refugees and human rights catastrophes. Finally, it will examine the relationship of Russia, Turkey and countries to the east with evolving transatlantic security, economic and political structures.

Enrollment limited to 15 students. Mandatory for MATA students.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D280M Transatlantic Affairs - MATA Project

Transatlantic Affairs - MATA Project

Course duration: Module    
Credits: 1.5

DHP D281 Security of the Black Sea Region

The security situation in the wider Black Sea area has been transformed over the past few decades—and especially over the past year. With dissolution of the Eastern bloc and Soviet Union the region has seen an influx of new players. This new diversity of actors has created new international groupings –EU, OSCE, NATO, BSEC, GUAM and more. The security situation is dynamic, with multiple frozen conflicts and an ongoing hot war between Russia and Ukraine. The Black Sea area has seen a wide array of security concerns ranging from more traditional “hard” ones (vividly demonstrated by the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia) to the once unconventional “soft,” security issues, including energy and environmental security, the problems of migration, trafficking in humans, weapons and drugs, socio-economic underdevelopment, lapses in democracy, human rights and good governance. The regional security complex provides rich material to be studied. The Russian attack on Ukraine has multiple implications for the security of the region.

Credits: 3.0

DHP D282 Contemporary Russian Foreign Policy

This course will analyze the formation of current Russian foreign policy, with emphasis on influential actors such as security services, military, business elites, media figures, intellectuals, the Russian Orthodox Church, and close associates of President Vladimir Putin. It will explore the role of KGB veterans in shaping foreign policy decisions and the impact of the security services on the policymaking process. The course will also examine the influence of other groups on foreign policymaking and delve into key relationships with China, the Middle East, Europe, the US, and former Soviet countries. Active class participation and extensive reading are essential for success in the course.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D283 U.S.-European Relations Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Examines U.S.-European relations since a peaceful revolution brought down the Berlin Wall in November 1989. The seminar looks at various common challenges in the period thereafter and how they were dealt with, both from a U.S. and a European perspective: the unification of Germany, the opening of NATO to new members, NATO/Russia, Russia/Ukraine, 9/11 and the threat of violent extremism, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the dilemma of security vs privacy, climate, and newer issues such as trade, China policy, and extraterritorial sanctions. The emphasis is on practical skills rather than theory. Students will practice writing short memos for political leaders and giving short oral presentations.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D288 Leadership in the Public Sphere

Why is it necessary to have public leadership? What are the motivations behind it? To what ends is leadership oriented? Today’s world is in a transition from traditional male, white, northern leadership visions, to more diverse, feminine, and decolonized leadership approaches which are still unfolding, while coexisting with phenomena such as populism, patriarchalism and corruption. The intent of this course is to contrast these realities. The objective of this course is to explore the nature of public sphere leadership in various dimensions, to contribute to the student's growth in understanding of contemporary public leadership, and to provide conceptual and practical tools for understanding it, connecting with it, or exercising it.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D289 Seminar on Oligarchy, Corruption, and Kleptocracy in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Corruption is one of the main political pathologies that can undermine government transparency and therefore limit the ability of government to represent and deliver for citizens. It exists in all countries to varying degrees, and is endemic in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe and Eurasia - in part due to the way former state assets were privatized in the 1990s - and though it can be a mainly domestic phenomenon, it contributes to malign foreign influence as well. Corruption erodes public trust and has affected negatively not only the consolidation of democratic institutions, but in some cases the ability to form a functional government at all or to know who is driving government decision making and on the basis of what interests. Corruption and kleptocracy in the region also have fueled domestic and international conflicts and have impacted European, American, and global security. In this seminar-format course, taught by a practitioner who has served as the National Security Council Director for Central Europe and the Balkans, students will examine the roots, mechanisms, and consequences of corruption and kleptocracy, and will seek to understand some of the available tools to counter them (including, i.a., sanctions, law enforcement, financial transparency initiatives, investigative journalism, and international relations tools such as the EU accession process). They will read case studies from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and the Balkans, analyze and compare these cases, and discuss the adequacy of citizens’ and the international community’s attempts to address them thus far. Each student will also write a final paper examining a country or situation and proposing responses to mitigate or eliminate corruption and its consequences in that case.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D290 Cyber Risk Management

This course provides a survey of different tools and techniques for assessing and addressing online risks in an organization including threat modeling, security metrics and budgeting, incident response and remediation, legal compliance, and cyber-insurance. Through case studies of real companies and cybersecurity incidents, students will learn how to identify potential cyber threats to an organization, address related supply chain and procurement risks, develop qualitative and quantitative metrics for assessing cybersecurity, establish a policy for responding to law enforcement requests for data, use international security standards and frameworks, negotiate insurance coverage for cyber risks, and incorporate cloud-based services and other third-party IT vendors into a comprehensive cyber risk management plan for a multinational organization. The organizational risks discussed will include data breaches, online financial fraud, industrial espionage, social engineering, denial-of-service attacks, cloud provider outages, and online extortion. The first part of the class will focus on organizational threat modeling and risk assessment techniques, the second part will look at budgeting and metrics for cybersecurity, the third part will explore techniques for cyber risk sharing, and the fourth part will look at incident response and mitigation.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D291 Computer Science for Future Policymakers

Computer technology runs modern societies, underlying virtually every activity we do, from how the foods we eat arrive on our table to how we receive and consume information. Because cyber technology has such a profound influence on society, policymakers frequently face decisions on technical issues. Computer Science for Future Presidents is designed to provide students interested in policy, political science, and international relations aspects of cyber technology with an understanding of how these technologies work and the underlying issues of the policy debate. This course will cover Internet architecture and basic networking, the Web, cloud architectures, cryptography, security and privacy, open source systems, AI and machine learning, and other new technologies; it has a heavy emphasis on labs. It assumes no more previous exposure to computer science than a single programming course.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D292 How Systems Work

(Cross-listed w/ CS 202) How computing systems work: bits, bytes, the representation of information, the CPU, assembly language, programming languages. Networking: including peering, packets, and the Internet. Algorithms and the fundamental limitations of computing.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP D293 How Systems Fail

(Cross-listed w/CS 203) Failure of computer systems within the larger context of complex systems, including the power grid and aviation. Failures of algorithms and protocols, engineering and implementation, systems and applications, people and culture. Attacks, attack recovery, security, privacy, and attribution. Case studies of failures and attacks, including distributed denial of service, Meltdown, Spectre, and spear-phishing attacks. Prerequisites: COMP 13 or consent of instructor.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H203 U.S. Foreign Policy, 1898 to Present

This course will examine major themes in United States foreign relations, including isolationism, humanitarianism, and imperialism; the link between domestic politics and foreign policy; and the debate about American exceptionalism. Key topics will include the expansion of US power in the early 20th century; the diplomacy of the World Wars; the Cold War and the construction of the U.S. alliance system; and the challenges to the U.S. backed order.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H204 Classics of International Relations

Most graduate courses in international relations focus on “cutting edge” research. Without a working knowledge of Thucydides, Kant, or Schelling, citizens and policymakers are unable to place new theoretical propositions into a historical context. This course surveys the history of international relations theory through a close reading of 10-15 classic works in the field. Among the questions that will be addressed: how far has IR theory developed since Thucydides? How closely do theories of international relations mirror the era in which they were written? In what ways are these widely cited works simplified or misstated in the current era?

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H205 The Historian's Art and Current Affairs

Through case studies, this course aims to give students the historical powers they need as they go out into the world: empathy, detachment, and relentless skepticism. The course examines the origins of World War I and the analogies the war provoked and provokes, as well as the two paradigms that come up when debating whether or not to go to war: the trouble that flowed from appeasing Nazi Germany and Japan in the run up to World War II, and the disastrous Sicilian expedition embarked on by ancient Athens. The tension between these paradigms is explored through studies of war in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. The course will also examine how different readings of history can lead to dramatically different policies; the U.S., Russia, and China tell Cold War history differently and those differences do much to explain their different world views. Armed with knowledge of the many endings of the Cold War, the course will also compare the revolutions in Europe in 1989, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, and the Arab Spring.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H220 The Role of Statecraft in International Politics

For decades, economic statecraft was viewed as the forgotten stepchild of foreign policy analysis. The use of force was the ne plus ultra of international relations; economic sanctions were viewed as a symbolic afterthought. Over the past three decades, however, the explosion of economic statecraft has required a rethink of this policy instrument. This course will offer a survey of analytical approaches to economic statecraft, as well as an assessment of prominent cases in economic history. It starts with a conceptual survey of what is under the umbrella of “economic statecraft,” with a special attention to sanctions in particular. The next section conducts a brief historical survey of sanctions, with a special emphasis on the cases that led to rethinks about the use of the policy option. The last section considers current practices on sanctions, in the United States and elsewhere, with a eye on what the future holds.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H246 Revolutions: Theories and Histories

Revolutions have been responsible for some of the greatest political, social, economic, and cultural changes in human history. But what is a revolution? What sort of change does it induce, and what are its causes? What leads a revolution to fail? This course explores the history and meaning of revolutions by taking a theoretical and comparative historical approach. Students will first explore different sociological theories of revolution before studying a series of case studies in order to develop their own views about how to define and understand revolutions. The course is intended to provide students a framework through which to understand revolutions, as well as to encourage them to apply these frameworks to various historical and contemporary case studies.

Course duration: Full Semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H250 Global Decolonization

(Cross-listed as HIST 206) Decolonization is one of the most significant historical phenomena of the modern world. The end of empires across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries gave way to the international system in which we live today: one constituted of politically independent nation-states. This course, drawing on historical methodologies, explores how decolonization was often a fraught, contested process that shaped not only the international system but also forms of nationhood and statehood, modes of political and social mobilization, and definitions of individual rights. Special attention is paid to the “Global South” as a crucial arena through which local, national, and international relations were forged, and we will further reflect on “decolonization” as the past versus “decolonization” as method.

Course duration: Full Semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H252 Russian Foreign Policy from Peter the Great to Putin

This course will examine major trends in Russian diplomacy and power projection. It begins by looking at Russian history, including the foreign policy of key tsars such as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Alexander. Then the course turns to the 20th century, including the diplomacy of the early Soviet state, Stalin and World War II, the rise and fall of the Cold War, and post-Soviet Russia.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H261 War and Society in the Middle East in Historical Perspective

A century ago, World War I and its settlement shaped the modern Middle East. The end of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of successor states in search of internal ideology and regional influence have characterized the region today. This course addresses the broader topic of struggle and survival during cataclysmic events, such as a world war, with reference to the history of the student’s region of interest. It is a research–based class in which students will learn how to better research conflict and how to develop an approach to the study of conflict given the many perspectives of those affected by it. The course will also discuss the ways in which conflict can transform a region.

Cross-listed with HIST 0209

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H262 A Century of Transformation: Western-Middle East Relations from the 1920s to the Present

This course will discuss the evolution of relations between the West and the Middle East as Western powers, who prior had begged for capitulations and other favors from local Middle East rulers, became the direct and indirect 'great powers' of the region, at different times throughout the 20th century. First as outsiders seeking special favors from local dynasts, Westerners evolved as partners who soon rapidly took over power throughout much of the Middle East, along the way turning their war allies effectively into their subjects. How nationalists responded to these changes and how the 20th and early 21st centuries adjusted to the new world order is part of the story. This is a research-based class in which students will learn to better examine how historical conflicts and life under occupation shape identity, and how to develop a thematic approach to viewing identities through a historical lens.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP H266M The Great Transformations in the Contemporary Middle East

Examines four great transformations in the contemporary Middle East through biographic trajectories. It will look at the modern and early modern urban social history of the Middle East through the prism of biography and autobiographical writings and how it relates to policies and practices in the current context. Participants will read and discuss key texts on the structural transformations that engulfed the Middle East: The End of the Ottoman Era and the rise of the colonial states under British and French Mandates; Nationalism and the Nasserist Movement; the Rise of Revolutionary Radicalism; and the Arab Spring and its Aftermath. A number of interpretive social science texts, as well as original diaries, memoirs and autobiographies from a number of Middle Eastern countries.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP H271 Foreign Relations of Modern China, 1644 to the Present

This course is a survey of China’s foreign relations from the Qing dynasty to the present. Topics include geography, warfare, diplomacy, trade, cultural exchange, and the connections between past and present. Lectures followed by discussion.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P201 Comparative Politics

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of comparative politics. The first two weeks of the course will familiarize students with the type of questions that comparative political scientists tackle and the methodological tools that they employ. This week will also concentrate on issues such as concept formation and theory development. The rest of the course will be structured around key research areas in the field of comparative politics such as state formation, nationalism, constitutional structure of states, origins and persistence of political regimes, emergence of political parties and voting, religion and politics, political culture, and political violence.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P202M Security Sector Reform: Conceptual and Contextual Debates in Peacebuilding

This module is an in-depth primer on the conceptual underpinnings and the record of implementation of security sector reform (SSR) over the past 20 years. The course begins with a brief overview of the historical and theoretical foundations of the field and frequent debates raised by the community of practitioners as well as critics. The course is organized around the SSR model as defined by Jane Chanaa across four dimensions: political, institutional, societal, and economic. Classes will explore the conceptual definitions, institutions and actors, and lessons learned within each dimension and apply the model to case studies. Students will compare SSR implementation when led by the local government, the United Nations, regional organizations, and/or outside states including the United Kingdom and the United States. The course closes with the students’ assessment of the SSR as a conceptual tool for peace building and prospects for its future evolution in practice.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P203 Analytic Frameworks for International Public Policy Decisions

Introduction to the basic tools of policy analysis and decision making, providing students with analytic skills to make policy decisions in many types of organizations. The course includes an introduction to public policy objectives, decision making, and the role of analysis. Students then learn powerful analytic decision-making techniques, including decision trees, Bayes theorem, utility theory, prospect theory, game theory, benefit-cost analysis, and tipping models. Case studies are used to learn the policy analysis tools while applying them to real world policy problems. Cases come from developed and developing countries, and cover many different policy fields. No background in economics or statistics is required.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P205 National Security Decision-making: Theory and Practice

Examines national security decision-making from both a theoretical perspective and from its execution in practice. The class focuses on how national security decisions are made rather than on the theories of international relations or the substantive content of national security or foreign policies. It begins with the history of the U.S. National Security Council, and an overview of the current structures, actors, and processes in the U.S. system of national security decision-making. Next, the course examines theoretical models of decision-making including cognitive biases, organizational processes, bureaucratic politics, how senior leaders often use history and analogies in their decisions, and the influence of domestic politics. The course also explores the roles of the Departments of State and Defense, the intelligence community, the influence of Congress and the media as well as the prospects for national security reform. Students are asked to analyze historical case studies and current events considering the broad themes covered throughout the semester. Emphasis throughout the course is placed on the national security decision-making system of the United States, however, participants are strongly encouraged to examine the systems and actors of other states and multinational organizations.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P206M Maritime Security

Maritime security is a constant fixture in security headlines. Ranging from territorial disputes in the South China Sea to piracy near strategic chokepoints, maritime security challenges are varied and complex. This course seeks to unravel these challenges by examining the basic foundations of maritime security. These include the key technologies and technological trends which affect maritime security, the role of Great Powers, the importance of chokepoints, and future of non-state actors. Students taking this course will emerge with a nuanced understanding of security challenges in the maritime domain and knowledge of maritime terminology used by practitioners in the field.

Course duration: Module    
Credits: 1.5

DHP P207 GIS for International Applications

his course introduces students to geographic information systems (GIS) with a specific focus on their applications in various international settings and topics. The primary objective of this course is to equip students to explore geospatial technology and related tools, including ESRI ArcGIS Pro, for data creation, management, analysis, and visualization. Throughout the curriculum, students will delve into the dynamic field of GIS through a combination of assignments and interactive discussions, which are organized into modules. This approach enables students to develop an understanding of how geospatial technologies can be utilized across different fields and disciplines. The course also includes a practical component, where students will work on a final project with guided activities. By the end of this course, students will have acquired a relevant skill set that can be readily applied in a wide range of professional contexts. It is worth noting that this course is specifically designed to fulfill the quantitative analysis requirements for both the Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) and the Master of Global Affairs (MGA) programs. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/49cNV1A

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P209M Demography and National Security

Demography is a critical factor in explaining the stability of states, it is often missed by both policymakers and academics until it is too late. Why is it missed? Policy makers tend to be focused on immediate crises and events, while population change happens over the longer term, in slow motion. Academics tend to favor immediate and direct causal factors in explaining political instability, war and state death. How demography impacts societies and politics is too complex and too messy for contemporary analysis that tends to emphasize the search for causality through formal modeling and statistical methods. This course seeks to remedy these oversights by providing an introduction to key concepts and trends related to the study of populations and what it means to international and states’ national security. While demographers ask and answer questions such as ‘how many people, of what kind, and where?’ (facts of change); and ‘why did this come about?’ (determinants of change), international relations and national security experts need to understand why this matters (consequences of change). The goal is to build an understanding that enables scholars to better inform policy makers, and policy makers to be better prepared to grasp the opportunities and ameliorate the risks that demographic changes present.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P211M African Politics and Development

This module, with the aid of geo-economics, geo-politics and meta-geopolitics, explores the political and economic dynamics of postcolonial Africa from a macro-level perspective. The overarching aim is to critically examine the key dimensions of processes which shape the political and economic realities of the continent. The module presents and addresses theoretical and policy-relevant deliberations that may be of interest not only to those who are eager to learn about Sub-Saharan Africa beyond stereotypical perspectives but also to those interested in the global experiences of countries situated at the lowest-rungs of the world pecking order. Beginning with a macro level depiction and then moving to selected topics, the module will illuminate the complexities of the Westphalian state model in Africa, with emphasis on the legacies colonialism, Pan-Africanist imperatives attending decolonization/independence in the context of the Cold War, the spectre of political instability, the experiences of neoliberal economic and political reforms after the Cold War as well as the pressures and mitigation strategies in the age of anthropocene. Each week will be dedicated to specific topics which boarder on the political role of the state in economic development, policy options and reforms.

Credits: 1.5

DHP P214 Gender Theory and Praxis

This course provides a foundation in key theories and frameworks for understanding gender issues across disciplines. Drawing on key texts from the fields of anthropology, philosophy, post-colonial theory, women’s and gender studies, feminist theory, international relations, development economics, environmental studies and beyond, students will explore the role of gender and gender relations across the spheres of social, cultural, political, economic and religious life. The course syllabus seeks to capture the diversity of identities and viewpoints that are reflected in theoretical conversations about gender. While many of these debates are commonly discussed with reference to international studies, this course will also wade into the realm of the domestic, exploring how gender theories manifest in reproduction, labor, and peacetime relationships. Discussions will draw out intersectional themes and invite students to reflect on how to apply these theories and approaches to issues of race, social class, and other dimensions of identity and privilege.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P215 Nuclear Weapons and Great Powers Competition

The seminar offers an in-depth analysis of selected nuclear issues that today top the U.S. nuclear agenda. The course seeks to explain the genesis and the evolution of these issues and to examine and debate the appropriateness of current policies. The course offers both theoretical and policy perspectives on these issues so as to encourage students to experiment with different theoretical lenses and to familiarize themselves with the constraints and limits of policy formulation in the face of complex and pressing dilemmas.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P217 Global Political Economy

What determines the direction, magnitude, governance, and fluctuation of international economic exchange? This course surveys the theories and issue areas of the global political economy, both in the current day and in the past. Different analytical models are presented to explain the variations in economic exchange over time. The issue areas that will be examined include: world trade, monetary orders, global finance, and foreign investment. Current topics that will be covered include: the effects of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the rise of the BRIC economies, the future of the dollar, and the future of global economic governance.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P219 Political Economy of Development

This class offers a survey of some of the key debates and issues in the political economy of development. First, we examine alternative approaches to development and how they have informed policies in developing countries since the 1950s. Second, we compare different patterns of interaction among the state, political parties, interest groups, and civil society and examine how they have affected development outcomes. Third, we address current topics such as the rise of China and India, new approaches to poverty alleviation, and the impact of global financial crises on developing countries.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P221 Memory Politics: Truth, Justice, and Redress

Analyzes the relationship between memory and social reconciliation, and the role that theories of truth, justice and redress play in this equation. We begin with WWII, or more precisely its aftermath and the emergence of a series of conventions and covenants establishing human rights as a set of international laws, institutions, and norms. We trace the expansion of, and challenges to, the regime of human rights and international law by focusing on case studies that allow us to analyze war crimes tribunals, truth commissions, the burgeoning field of transitional justice, and local level forms of assessing guilt and administering justice. Our case studies this year include Rwanda, South Africa, Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P222 Development Aid in Policy and Practice

This course provides an overview of the key concepts, tools, challenges and trade-offs in the field of development aid. Students will gain an understanding of the theoretical and operational underpinnings of the current development aid system and its effects on development organizations, donors, aid workers, and the people the aid is ultimately intended to help. Students will not gain technical knowledge in education, health, infrastructure, etc., but they will learn about cross-cutting issues and approaches that appear in all fields of development cooperation: technical assistance, capacity building, participation, and conditionality among others.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P225 Design, Monitoring and Evaluation

Provides a practical introduction to three of the main elements of the program cycle beginning with theories that underpin program design, then discussing monitoring for decision making, learning and accountability, the course ends with program evaluation from the perspective of an implementing actor or donor. The course focuses on the processes related to DME and applies them across development and humanitarian spheres.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P227 The Policymaking Process

Provides foundational knowledge and skills for the design, formulation and implementation of public policy. The course will cover the philosophies and values underpinning public policymaking, the processes and actors involved in making policy, and the skills and structures required to do so effectively. The course will cover issues including: problem/issue identification and prioritization, evidence-based policy analysis and design, various policy tools and levers, stakeholder mapping and engagement, interagency policy development, bureaucratic culture and politics, constraints on policymakers, senior-level decision-making, communications, and ensuring effective implementation. Students will gain an understanding of the reasons why governments make public policy, the opportunities and limits of public policy, and practical experience in how policy is developed, decided and implemented. Special attention will be played to role of politics, power, and the institutional and public ecosystems in which policy is made in practice. The course primarily takes the perspective of a policymaker in the executive branch of government.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P228M Advanced Evaluation and Learning in International Organizations

This advanced module is key for students who wish to develop the full-package of skills and concepts expected of professionals working in development and peacebuilding. At the end of this class, students will have a working knowledge of the key evaluation designs, approaches and tools; the ability to evaluate existing evaluations for adequacy of the design and quality; a clear picture of the link between evaluation and learning; and an overview of the latest strategies and challenges in creating learning organizations. Introduction to DME is a prerequisite to take this course.

Course duration: Module    
Credits: 1.5

DHP P230 The Fletcher Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DME) Lab: Developing Real-World Interventions

he course provides foundational knowledge and skills for students to design, monitor, and evaluate real-world interventions, including policies and programs in a range of fields. Past DME students have found DME tools and processes to be immediately useful in capstone development, internships, and many professional spaces. This course differs from past offerings in design, monitoring, and evaluation—which focused on program or project interventions—in that it includes a variety of interventions such as policy or product interventions. The course addresses critical steps in the policy development/program cycle including assessment, problem analysis, program logic, monitoring systems development and implementation, and evaluation.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P231 International Communication

The course covers international communication from three perspectives: its governance, its many-dimensional relationship with governments, and policy issues. Students explore different theories and examples of how different types of communication content and technology interact with sovereignty, politics, security, international relations, culture, and development. The course provides the foundations of this field with a structural approach. Topics covered include freedom of speech, global media and international journalism, public diplomacy, propaganda, media in democracies and totalitarian states, media influence on foreign policy, digital divide, intellectual property, privacy, convergence, security, media and political conflict and economic development.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P232 Technological Innovation and International Security

Technological innovation has long had important implications for international security, from the longbow and the internal combustion engine to the aircraft and the carrier. This class studies the impact of technological innovations on international security. The aim of the course is to equip students with analytical frameworks useful for thinking about the causes and consequences of technological innovation for international security, technical literacy in key legacy and emerging military technologies, and an understanding of the impact of these technologies for patterns of interstate conflict, competition, and cooperation.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P233 International Security

This course examines the use of armed force in international affairs. You will examine theories of war and bargaining, conflict prevention and termination, post-conflict management, and the role of third parties. You will study civil wars, interstate wars, and insurgencies (including terrorism) as well as different forms of warfare, including conventional, nuclear, information, and cyber warfare. Although we will consider the nature of the state system and the structure of the international order from a historical perspective, special attention will be paid to the post-Cold War era.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P234 The Arts of Communication

Today’s leaders must have the ability not only to analyze thoughtfully but also to communicate clearly and persuasively. This full semester course is intended to turn you into a significantly more persuasive and effective public speaker—someone who speaks with the ease, confidence, clarity, and modes of persuasion that are critical in today’s corporate, nonprofit, policy, and diplomacy worlds. We will cover a range of speaking scenarios, from podium speeches on values to simulations of a press conference or media interview on camera. The course is intended to help you develop your own personal style by deepening your understanding of the persuasive tools, recommendations, refutations, modes of analysis, and variations in audiences that motivate listeners to turn business, policy and diplomacy ideas into action. The full semester course will take a deeper and wider dive into the world of public speaking relative to the module course, and include sessions on debating, ceremonial speeches, as well as more detailed sessions on facing the camera and press, impromptu speaking, and elevator pitching. Approximately one-half of the course will be devoted to classes that introduce students to strategies of spoken communication and to models of public presentation. The other half will consist of speech delivery sessions in which students will hone their skills in public speaking.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P235 Technology and Public Policy

Throughout history, technology has played a fundamental role in shaping international affairs by serving as one of the principal drivers for cooperation, competition, and war among communities, societies, and nation-states. Advances in S&T have always been driven by man’s concurrent aspiration for progress and peace and primacy and domination. And in all ages, technologies inevitably brought about extraordinary benefits and daunting risks of weaponization and misuse. This class while trying to make sense of the contradictions, challenges and promises of technology, seeks to encourage students to think critically about these issues. Ultimately, this class hopes to contribute to create a new global generation of analysts and decision-makers prepared to manage the many facets of the future technological revolutions.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P236 Cyber in the Civilian Sector: Threats and Upheavals

There is a myth that the Internet erases borders. But as Internet companies’ ability to place localized ads show, that’s false. What’s more accurate is that the Internet complicates a nation’s ability to control of the flow of information within its borders. (This is not a new challenge for sovereign nations; consider the telegraph.) This fluidity has created great economic opportunity and simplified trans-border access, the latter potentially threatening security and other basic state functions. With bits increasingly controlling the world around us, the Digital Revolution poses a highly disruptive threat. In this course, we’ll explore cyber clashes in the civilian sec-tor: from jurisdictional issues and the challenges posed by new technologies to criminal activities and impacts on civil infrastructures.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P237 Privacy in the Digital Age

This course examines the evolving threats to and protections for privacy in the digital age, considering challenges from both the public and private sectors on a global scale. We will explore key questions such as: Who values privacy, in which contexts, and why? What roles do anonymity and security play in privacy? How can we assess the benefits and drawbacks of privacy-enhancing technologies? What factors influence the choices people make about their online privacy? The course will integrate technical knowledge with insights from social science literature, drawing on fields such as law, economics, and political science to provide a multifaceted understanding of privacy issues. Topics will include encryption policy, privacy threat models, location tracking, first- and third-party data collection by private entities, government threats to privacy, regulations, and cross-cultural perspectives on privacy norms and values.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P239 Nuclear Weapons: Technology and Strategy

What are the causes and consequences of nuclear weapons? How do nuclear weapons and related capabilities work from a scientific and technological perspectives? What is the physical impact of a nuclear explosion? What are the technical elements of delivery systems and what is the likelihood that one nuclear-armed state could disarm another? Will nuclear weapons be used in our lifetimes? Why do states sometimes pursue nuclear weapons and why do they sometimes stop that pursuit? What can gender, sex, race, and religion teach us about the politics of nuclear weapons? Can the use or even the mere possession of nuclear weapons ever be legally, ethically, and morally justified? How will emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyber weapons impact nuclear weapons? How should the United States and other nuclear-armed states structure their nuclear forces and design their nuclear strategies? Students will explore these issues from both technical, historical, and contemporary perspectives. The course will also touch briefly on more general issues related to international politics, international organizations, and science and technology. 

Course duration: Full semester  
Credits: 3.0

DHP P240 The Role of Force in International Politics

This core International Security Studies course presents an examination of the role of force as an instrument of statecraft. Topics covered include: 1) military power and the role of force in contemporary world politics; 2) the causes of war and the moral/ethical constraints on armed violence; 3) instruments and purposes of coercion force: military power and strategic non-violent action; 4) national security policy formation and process; 5) the modes and strategies of military power (nuclear, conventional, internal conflict); 6) the structure of the post-Cold War and post-9/11 international security environment.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P243 Internal Conflicts and War

Instability, conflict, and irregular warfare within states due to burgeoning challenges posed by armed groups have proliferated in number and importance since the Cold War ended. With the spread of globalization, the technological shrinking of the world and interdependence of states and regions, these internal/transnational conflicts have taken new dimensions with far-reaching consequences. This seminar examines their patterns and evolution. Topics include examination of: the global strategic environment which armed groups exploit; the causes of internal/transnational conflict; types of armed groups, their operational patterns and strategies; and six case studies.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P244 Modern Terrorism and Counterterrorism

This course examines the nature of terrorism; the spectrum of terrorist motivations, strategies, and operations; the socio-political, economic and other factors that can enable terrorist group activities; the unique threat of WMD terrorism; and the internal vulnerabilities of terrorist organizations. Students will examine current and classic research on terrorism, and explore many of the puzzles that remain unanswered. Finally, the course will analyze these critical issues within the context of policies and strategies for responding to the threat of terrorism with increasing sophistication and success.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P246M Civil Resistance

Offers an in-depth primer on civil (nonviolent) resistance waged by ordinary people to bring about substantive political, economic, and/or social change. The course begins with a brief history of nonviolent struggle over the last century, the theoretical foundations of resistance, and common misperceptions. The course then turns to the historical record to study how and why nonviolent resistance movements succeed at double the rate of armed struggles even when waged against oppressive regimes. Students learn several of the core skills taught by practitioners and leading academics in assessment, strategy and planning, tactics, mass mobilization, and organization, and apply these frameworks to case studies throughout the course. Next, the course examines the dynamics that often emerge within nonviolent struggle such as how violent repression can backfire, how to maintain resilience and discipline within the movement, and the role of external actors and assistance. The course ends with students’ assessment of several ongoing civil resistance movements and the prospects for achieving enduring political, economic, or social change.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P248 Strategy and Grand Strategy: Theory, Art and Practice

This course aims to build students’ understanding of the theory and practice of strategy and grand strategy and their influence on policy. It is a course designed for practitioners in which students are asked to think critically and creatively about today’s geopolitical environment, potential strategies, their implementation and their consequences. The course begins by examining the nature of strategy and how it is defined across the literature. It explores the historic origins and modern foundations of the field, introduces the concepts of power and statecraft, and considers critiques of strategic planning. Next, the course turns to a discussion of strategic art - the assessment, formulation, and implementation of strategy including the use of diplomatic, economic, and military tools of statecraft. The course concludes by considering the influences of culture, national values, and institutions on contemporary cases of strategy in the United States, China, Russia, and the NATO Alliance. Emphasis throughout the course is primarily focused on nation-state behavior but students are strongly encouraged to apply the course frameworks to other actors in the international system including intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and other non-state actors.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P249 International Cyber Conflict

As a domain and instrument of competition and conflict, cyber space enables a range of global actors—including dissidents, terrorist organizations, and states with varying levels of offensive and defensive cyber capabilities—to assert influence, project power, and conduct activities in the increasingly ambiguous areas between war and peace. This course will explore the role of cyberspace in international conflict, including through the use of espionage, disinformation campaigns, and attacks; the course will examine the policies, strategies, and governance structures of key actors that operate within the cyber domain. We will also study why the development of international norms in cyberspace has proved so elusive.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P250 Environmental Problem Solving

Familiarizes students with global environmental problems – and solutions – facing the international community today. Global environmental problems can be thought of as a problem that has entered into the attention of governments, scientific communities, non-governmental organizations, and the public. Often these are complex, multi-faceted issues that are significant enough to be addressed by the global international community. While many of these issues can exist at multiple scales, our focus in this class will be on the international scale. The course is divided into two main sections: Foundations for Environmental Problem Solving and Environmental Problems and Solutions. The first section considers what environmental problems are, as well as the policy and quantitative tools used for addressing various environmental problems. Once there is a common foundation for discussing environmental problems, the course uses the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals to consider several global environmental problems. Through these discussions, we will explore the significant aspects of an environmental problem, some of its dominant solutions, as well as tools and skills that can contribute to solving the problem. This course aims to cover a breadth of environmental problems and policies to serve as a foundation for further exploration of these topics in other Fletcher courses.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P251 Energy, Entrepreneurship & Finance

Driven by environmental factors, technology and market conditions, opportunities abound in areas related to conventional and new energy, which is represented by renewables and new technologies. This course examines the role that entrepreneurship, policy and financing taken together play in driving change that impacts traditional energy sources and results new energy opportunities. Energy entrepreneurship and financing together will support and create new infrastructure and require new energy paradigms on both the supply and demand side. The class will meld policy, strategy, finance and entrepreneurship in order to build a coherent framework for integrating conventional and new energy with a focus on both business and the environment. DHP P254 is recommended but not required.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P252 Global Water Security Perspectives

This is a seminar-style course to introduce students to the concept of water security. Water security is a relatively new term in the field of water science and policy, and it is a concept with multiple interpretations. One definition by the Global Water Partnership is “Water Security, at any level from the household to the global, means that every person has access to enough safe water at an affordable cost to lead a clean, healthy, and productive life while ensuring that the natural environment is protected and enhanced.” Since the early 2000s, the term has been used in increasing popularity often as justification or informing technical or policy solutions to the world’s water challenges. How the term is applied in these situations depends on its interpretation, making a solid understanding of the underlying concepts of water security important for decision-makers. Ultimately, water security is a concept that allows us to consider the risks associated with water, such as the risk of a lack of access, risk of poor quality, or risk of flood, and to develop solutions to address these risks, thereby ensuring one’s water security. However, water security is often conflated with the idea of securitization, which has the potential to encourage a securitized approach to water resources management, when interdependence and cooperation are often what is needed to ensure water security for all. This course will take a deep dive into the main concepts and theories underlying the term water security. We will use the Web of Water Security (Zeitoun 2011) as a framework for understanding how water relates to climate, energy, food, human, and national securities, plus consider the economics of water and address environmental water needs. This course aims to help students build an understanding of water security as a concept so that they can use it as a tool to evaluate and inform sustainable and equitable water solutions to the global water crisis we are currently facing.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P253 Sustainable Development Diplomacy

Sustainable development diplomacy course examines how to integrate economic, environmental and social equity goals in foreign policy-making. It discusses the emergence of sustainable development as a concept and international institutions and negotiation processes that facilitate its implementation. Focusing on climate, water and forest diplomacy, we address a range of themes including UN climate negotiations, climate finance, environmental refugees, public-private cooperation, and water governance. The course also analyzes China and BRICS-led approaches to sustainable development and their new banks. It offers insights from practice, trainings in mutual gains negotiations and complex UN multiparty negotiations. Students develop expertise in policy analysis and planning, strategic thinking and feedback management.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P254 Climate Change Policy and Law

This course provides an overview of the scientific, economic, political and ethical dimensions of the challenge of global climate change. It then focuses on developing a detailed understanding of whether and how the international “climate change regime” (comprising the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and related instruments) has effectively and fairly addressed the challenge of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Students will develop an in-depth understanding of how the international climate change regime has put in place principles, goals and commitments to cut global emissions, as well as institutions, market and financial instruments, and transparency and accountability mechanisms to keep governments on track to meet their obligations. By participating in simulated negotiations on key elements of the Paris Agreement, students will gain a deeper appreciation of the geopolitics and the processes that have shaped the climate change regime. Finally, a series of case studies will assess how different national and regional jurisdictions have been implementing the international regime through their domestic law and policy, and assess whether these differences in approach are likely to lead to more cooperation or conflict in areas such as trade and investment policy.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P255 International Energy Policy

Energy affects every dimension of human society and it is crucial for economic prosperity. Energy is at the heart of economic development strategies, national security challenges, and intractable environmental problems. This review course maps how challenges and opportunities differ among countries, exploring basic differences between industrialized and developing countries. The policies of major energy producers and consumers are compared. The focus is on oil and gas, but renewable energy sources are also considered. Topics include: energy and the world economy, the geopolitics of oil and gas, energy markets, energy policy and economic development, climate change, technological change and the future of energy.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P256 Innovation for Sustainable Prosperity

Innovation is the main source of economic growth and improvements in productivity, is a key lever for catalyzing development, reducing environmental harm, improving human health and well-being, and enhances national security. This seminar explores the nature of technology, theories and “stylized facts” about innovation processes, and how to think about innovation systems. A major focus is policy for innovation. Topics include national innovation systems, management of risks, global change, actors and institutions, social innovation, private vs. public, education, cross-country comparisons, competitiveness, technology transfer and diffusion, learning and “catch-up”, IPR’s, and leapfrogging. Case studies are used to understand each topic.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P258 The Energy Transition

Consideration of engineering concepts relevant to the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. Interface between policy and technology in the energy sector and its relevance to decision making. Offshore wind energy is used as an example to illustrate the convergence of technology, infrastructure, policy, and markets that is necessary to achieve a just and equitable energy transition. Course is open to juniors, seniors, and graduate students from across the university.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P259 Water Policy and Governance

Every day, multiple times a day, you interact with freshwater. Yet, how often do you think about the policies and management practices in place that bring clean, fresh water to your tap? For most of us, particularly those in the United States and other industrialized countries, we seldom think about it –it is almost a resource we can take for granted, knowing it will be there when we turn the tap. However, for much of the world, this is not the case. This course will ask you to dive deeper (pun intended) into the policies, governance, and management practices that ensures water is in the tap, as well as those that may limit the access and availability of water. We will look at the broad topic of water policy and governance from a multiscalar lens, focusing on the subnational and international scales. The course is divided into three sections: 1) water foundations, 2) subnational policies and governance, and 3) international policy and governance. This course is open to those without experience with freshwater as a resource, and the first section provides a common foundation and language to further our discussion. The next section on subnational policies and governance will explore core issue areas affecting decision-making for the governance and management of water resources at the subnational level. We will close by adding complexity and scaling the discussion to the international scale. At this scale, the course explores the influence of international water law and politics on the governance of transboundary waters. Students will practice developing policies at the national level and negotiating agreements over the sharing of transboundary water resources.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P260 Islam and the West

Going beyond the simplistic notion of a great civilization divide, this course puts the categories ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ under the spotlight of historical and comparative analysis. After providing some essential background, the course concentrates on the colonial and postcolonial encounter between Muslim and Western societies and polities with special, but not exclusive reference to the South Asian subcontinent. Organized along historical and thematic lines, the course focuses on the overlapping domains of culture and politics, thought and practice, to elucidate aspects of dialogue, tension, and confrontation between the worlds of Islam and the West.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P261 Democratization in the Middle East: Theory and Practice

This course explores foundational theoretical, methodological, and operational questions relevant to understanding democratization in the Middle East. How do we specify regime types; how do we explain the pervasiveness of authoritarian resilience and hybrid regimes, versus democratic, regimes, in the region? How do historical conditions of state-formation and patterns of secular and religious nation-building shape democratization trajectories in the region? How does geopolitics affect democratization in the Middle East? Using comparative cases of Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, and combining seminar-style presentations with visits by democratization policymakers from inside/outside the region, the course gives students a robust introduction to scholar-practitioner issues at the cutting edge of democratization in the Middle East.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P262 Contemporary South Asia

(Cross-listed w/ HIST 145) Organized along both historical and thematic lines, the course surveys politics, economy, and society in late colonial India and offers a comparative historical analysis of state structures and political processes in post-colonial South Asia, particularly India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Among the themes considered are the reasons for the partition of 1947, the nature of the colonial legacy, the origins of democracy and military authoritarianism, history of development, the shifting balance between central and regional power, the ongoing clash between so-called secular and religiously informed ideologies, and the impact on interstate relations in the subcontinent.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P264 Artificial Intelligence: Algorithms, Ethics, and Policy

Artificial intelligence algorithms are designed to assist human decision-making processes ranging from driving, medical diagnoses, and language translation to criminal sentencing, drone targeting, and fraud detection. Each application area where machine learning is applied raises complicated ethical and legal issues of bias, oversight, privacy, accountability, and liability for these algorithms and the resulting automated decision-making they implement. This course aims to introduce students to the technical underpinnings of artificial intelligence so that they can better understand the range of policy options for addressing these issues. Each session will focus on a particular application area of AI and include roughly an hour of discussion of the technical implementation of how machine learning algorithms work in that area—what parameters they use, what data sets they are trained on, what kinds of decisions they make and how—followed by an hour of discussion of the policy and ethical considerations that those algorithms raise and how they might be addressed.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P265 21st Century Intelligence and National Security Seminar

21st century challenges to U.S. intelligence are being influenced by two different security and conflict contexts. The first appeared in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. As peacetime turned into wartime, intelligence institutions were tasked with combating new threats posed by transnational, decentralized and networked armed groups. This had a significant impact on the kinds of intelligence methods and capabilities that were could meet these challenges, which differed from those employed against 20th century state threats. The second context is what has been characterized as the new era of “great-power competition.” For U.S. intelligence agencies this means that states will be the predominant target in years ahead, relegating nonstate armed groups to a secondary concern.

To meet the challenges emanating from each of these security contexts, the U.S. intelligence community (IC) has sought to adapt how intelligence is collected, analyzed, and disseminated, as well as how it is employed as an instrument to help achieve policy objectives. A major theme running through the seminar will be to examine how U.S. intelligence has sought to make the necessary changes to adapt to these different challenges, and the extent to which the practices of the 21st century IC have been and will be affected by dramatic technological changes that may result in a revolution in intelligence affairs (RIA).

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P266 The Islamic World

This course aims to explain those aspects of the Islamic world—history, politics, economics, society, legal systems, business practices—that are necessary to conduct business or political negotiations in a number of countries. The course will discuss issues of political economy and business of the Islamic world, with a special focus on Islamic networks, business culture, oil, and issues of globalization and governance. Case studies will focus on specific companies and institutions. From a geographic standpoint, the course will focus primarily on Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf countries, although it will also include countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P267M Development in a Digital Age

For decades, a community of practice called “Information and Communication Technologies for Development” (ICT4D) has championed the use of technologies to pursue lofty aspirations like the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Lately, that community is reinventing itself as “Digital Development”.  This reinvention reflects additions to the underlying technologies –satellites, AI, biometric identity, etc. -- but also, a changing understanding of the roles complex digital systems play in shaping economies and societies on a crowded, warming, interconnected world. This class will examine the history, unresolved tensions, and current state of the art in Digital Development, across topics such as health, livelihoods, sustainability, financial inclusion, agriculture, trade, and more. We’ll identify key actors (from governments and development institutions to NGOs and the new internet giants), apply useful toolkits and frameworks from practice, and explore insightful theoretical perspectives from a variety of disciplines.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P268 Islam and Politics: Religion and Power in World Affairs

Islamic ideas and actors play an important part in global politics today. Their impact on political change, international security, and economic and social trends has shaped international relations in recent years. This course will trace the historical evolution of political Islam from both an international relations and a comparative politics perspective. A particular focus will be on the diversity of political Islam and on the religious factor in the “Arab Spring”. The course will also look at the role of other religions in contemporary politics.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P270M Challenges to Democracy in East Asia

Democracy stands on fragile ground. Challenges to democracy are mounting everywhere, even in places like the United States—the global beacon for liberal democracy. What is even more alarming is that democracies today do not die by sudden external threats or coups. They weaken gradually from within at the hands of democratically elected leaders who capitalize on internal divisions and subvert institutions to maximize power, not democracy. What is the nature of contemporary challenges to democracy and how serious are they? Is democracy really in decline? This course examines broad questions about challenges to democracy through the specific lens of East Asia. Prominent democracies are faltering in all regions, but the status of the East Asian democracies holds particular importance to global politics. They are the most adjacent neighbors to the world’s arguably most powerful authoritarian regime—China. Unique lessons can be learned about why democracies succeed and fail by looking closely at a single region that houses both developmentally successful democracies as well as repressive and resilient autocracies.

Course duration: Module  
Credits: 1.5

DHP P271M The Cyber Domain and U.S. National Security

It has been roughly thirty years since "cyber" threats became part of the national security discourse. And yet, despite several decades of cyber-attacks, policy documents, cyber strategies, legislation, and countless academic articles, the place of cyber in the national security curriculum remains tenuous and underdeveloped. Practitioners worry endlessly about the challenge of cyber threat and hope that cyber weapons and capabilities might provide competitive, even war-winning advantages. Scholars, analysts and students need to catch up to the reality of cyberspace as a contested domain. This course will provide students with a solid foundation for thinking clearly U.S. national security and cyber conflict, especially with other state actors. By the conclusion of the final session students should be prepared to undertake further study on cyber topics and, perhaps most important, be alert to the many myths associated with the field.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P274 The Politics of the Korean Peninsula: Foreign and Inter-Korean Relations

An examination of Korea’s modern “evolution” as a state and society. Emphasis on Korea’s modern political history, from the origins and theory of statecraft in traditional Korea to the major geopolitical issues of the present day. Topics include Korea’s relations with the great powers of the North Pacific and the primacy of international relations in the Korean world: from imperialism and Japanese colonialism, partition of the Korean peninsula and the establishment of two separate Koreas, Cold War politics and the Korean War, economic development and political freedom, to inter-Korean relations.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P275 North Korean State and Society

North Korea is the world world’s last major hermit society. Since the division of the Korean peninsula in 1945, South Korea has developed into one of the largest trading nations in the world with a vibrant democratic polity, while North Korea has descended into a perpetually aid-dependent state that maintains domestic control through the deification of the ruling family and operation of extensive political prisoner concentration camps. What does the future hold for North Korea? Emphasis on the Kim family continuum, strategy of brinkmanship, human rights, nuclear politics, and the implications of regime preservation or collapse.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P276 Seminar on Urban Africa

The city is often used as “a device to read social change” and this seminar draws on urban scholarship and writing to explore African challenges, opportunities and contributions. There are many ways to approach the study of African cities, and this course is my personal take, as both an African and an American, a transnational who visits the continent regularly for work, play and family, and as a researcher, scholar and recent author of a book about African cities. We focus on topics I believe are crucial to our planet today: the environment, migration, economic life, governance, public health and political action. Each week we focus on a specific issue, using one or two cities as case studies, and invite guest speakers from those cities. Students are encouraged to become familiar with at least one city, to study and write about it, possibly plan to visit it, and to engage with someone living in that city. Course readings draw on African scholars and writers as much as possible, from both the humanities and social sciences.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P277 Introduction to Nuclear Security: History, Policy, and Theory

This course offers a general introduction to nuclear security. It provides a comprehensive but concise overview of the topic’s main historical, theoretical, and policy dimensions. During the first part of the semester, we will discuss key concepts (fission, deterrence, vertical proliferation, etc.) associated with the post-World War II emergence of nuclear strategy, explore the superpowers’ Cold War competition, and study the emergence of new nuclear-weapon states (Britain, China, etc.). Once these conceptual and historical foundations in place, we will investigate the theoretical debates that have divided scholars on seminal questions such as the causes of proliferation, the effectiveness of the international non-proliferation regime (and of counter-proliferation), the impact of nuclear weapons on state behavior (war/peace, coercion, etc.), and the many constraints and forms of resistance that have emerged over time (norms, disarmament, etc.). During the third section of the course, we will examine the post-Cold War emergence of the “second nuclear age,” with a specific interest for nuclear terrorism, climate change, nuclear safety, and US primacy. Finally, we will probe the nuclear challenges that have (re)emerged in East Asia (China, North Korea), the Middle East (Israel, Iran), Europe (Russia’s nuclear resurgence, NATO’s extended deterrence), and South Asia (India, Pakistan). In each class meeting, we will cover these local nuclear powers’ historical emergence, their current status, and the US response. The conclusion of the course will survey the latest trends, including prospects for disarmament, the Trump Administration’s nuclear policy, and the impact of cyber on command-and-control systems.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P278 Climate Change and Security

From sensational news headlines about resource wars to measured, consensus-based reports that warn of potential instability caused by climate change: the discourse around climate and security varies widely. This course will explore the evolution of that discourse from the early environment and security literature of the 1980s and 1990s to current empirical studies and government reports on the impact of climate change on national and global security. Looking at root causes, impacts, and responses to climate insecurity, the course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of this complex field. By the end of this course, students will be prepared to think through policy options that consider the evidence-based security implications of issues like climate-induced migration, resource scarcity, and natural disasters.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P279M Identity Politics of East Asia

The axis of global competition continues to shift eastward. Although East Asia is increasingly pivotal to the economic and political stability of the world, it is also a region that long suffers from stereotypes and mischaracterizations. Specifically, the idea that ethnic homogeneity precludes vibrant identity politics in the region is not only false, but also leads to a shallow and often inaccurate understanding of what drives conflict and cooperation in the region. This course dives into the identity politics of East Asia, illuminating how it shapes everything from elections, domestic stability, international conflict, and democratic viability in the region. New and seasoned students of East Asia alike will walk away with a more nuanced understanding of the identity issues that underlie the contemporary politics of East Asia.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P284 Africa’s Global Politics

Africa is playing a rapidly increasing and important role in global politics in the 21st century. Its role in the international system has largely been analyzed from the perspective of external actors, and African states have been assumed to be passive actors. Diverging from orthodox and conventional approaches, this course does not treat Africa as a bystander or powerless victim. It focuses on Africa’s agency as a particular lens through which to view its global politics, not just the impact of external actors and processes on the African continent. It analyzes the degree to which African political actors have space to maneuver and exert influence within the international system. It explores the ability of Africa to make meaningful contributions and to lead international efforts on key global issues.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P287M Political Economy and Business of the European Union

Has the European Union (EU) delivered on its promise of a fully integrated economic and political union? How has Europe grown from its modest beginning with the European Coal and Steel Community established in 1951 with only six countries to the European Union which today encompasses 27 countries? Is the Euro crisis undermining the future of the European Union or will it usher the EU in a fiscal union which by necessity requires a closer political union? How does this multi-faceted integrative process shape the European business environment? Through class discussion and case studies managerial implications for firms operating in Europe are assessed at the provincial, national, and EU level. For MIB students, this course is one of the regional options.

Course duration: Module     
Credits: 1.5

DHP P288 Climate Change: Risk and Adaptation for Food Systems and Beyond

Climate change is one of the most pressing problems in the world today. This course will focus on the projected impacts of climate change around the world and related adaptations, with particular attention to humanitarian impacts and food systems. Students will cover climate risk assessment, risk perception, risk communication, and climate risk management/adaptation. The course will cover major climate impacts by sector, as well as their interactions and humanitarian implications. Each week of class will have two components: a lecture component and a lab component. The lecture will consist of instructor presentation of content as well as student reflection and discussion. The lab will consist of an exercise or simulation of technologies and methods related to climate impact assessment and management. Students will experiment with different methodologies to assess climate risk and identify impact modeling methodologies that are most appropriate for specific applications. Students will learn why people perceive risk differently and experiment with innovative methods to communicate risk. In the risk management section, students will critique alternative risk management strategies and identify equity and justice implications. As a final project, students will develop a proposal for the Green Climate Fund, which is the largest global fund to address climate change. Pre-requisite: Graduate standing or instructor consent.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P289 Spatial Data Science for Decision Making

GIS and Spatial analysis offer a unique and insightful perspective on our world, serving as a distinctive lens through which we explore events, patterns, and processes that unfold on or near the Earth's surface. At its core, spatial analysis resides at the crossroads of human insight and computational power, combining the art of interpretation with the precision of spatial data analysis, modeling, machine learning, deep learning, and AI. This fusion of human expertise with advanced technologies is pivotal in shaping decision-making processes, enabling us to unravel complex spatial phenomena and make informed choices that drive progress and innovation. This course is designed to immerse professionals in training in a rich learning experience, blending lab sessions with hands-on activities and engaging lectures and discussions through a holistic approach. The course not only covers spatial data science but also delves into the intricate realms of machine learning, deep learning, and AI. Participants will gain the knowledge and skills needed to apply these cutting-edge technologies to spatial analyses and decision-making processes. Throughout the course, the emphasis is on practical, real-world applications, including topics such as modeling, suitability analysis, pattern detection, deep learning, neural networks, dynamic visualization, and the nuanced examination of complex spatial datasets. This ensures that students are well-equipped with various quantitative methods, from descriptive to geostatistical methodologies. Finally, decision-making methods and visualization techniques are embedded to ensure we equip students with the practical skills to effectively interpret and communicate complex spatial data. These skills help bridge the gap between data analysis and real-world applications, fostering a deeper understanding of spatial relationships and their impact on decision outcomes. GIS for International Applications is a prerequisite to enroll. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/3u2xki8

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P290 Migration and Transnationalism in Latin America

This seminar will examine the implications of international migration, migrant remittances, and transnationalism for development and politics in Latin America. The first section addresses alternative theories of migration and reviews global patterns of migration in both sending and receiving countries. The last two sections focus on the impact of international migration and remittances on economic development and politics in sending countries, primarily in Latin America but with some comparative data from other developing countries.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P291 Power in World Politics

Power is the defining concept in the international relations discipline, and yet there is no consensus about what that concept means. This is a problematic state of affairs. The need for a better conceptual and empirical understanding of power should be obvious. This seminar will confront these conceptual and empirical problems head-on. Through an array of scholarly readings and case studies, we will aim for a better understanding of what power means, its myriad dimensions, how it is perceived over time, and how it is exercised by actors in world politics.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P292 The End of the World and What Comes Next

The world has been coming to an end for some time now. Take your pick of catastrophe: terrorism, financial crisis, nuclear war, cyber-collapse, natural disasters, climate change, or, hey, devastating pandemic. It seems as if the 21st century has been replete with world-defining catastrophes and we are barely a fifth of the way through it At the same time, however, it is worth remembering how many times civilization was supposed to come to an end in the past. Parson Malthus predicted a demographic time bomb in the mid nineteenth century. The Club of Rome predicted the depletion of key natural resources in the 1970s. Y2K was supposed to break the Internet on January 1, 2000. Many people embraced the misplaced eschatological beliefs surrounding the Mayan prediction of the end of civilization in December 2012. Even when catastrophes strike, like the Black Death or the 1918/19 influenza pandemic, civilization adapts and overcomes. This course is borne out of the coronavirus pandemic but focused on the larger questions it raises about possible catastrophes and the ability of the world to respond to them. It starts with some theoretical considerations of why societies might not be prepared to cope with looming catastrophic events. These include problems of collective action, time discounting, failures to differentiate risk and uncertainty, normal accidents, bureaucratic politics, millenarian beliefs, and the anarchical structure of international politics. It then considers which kinds of societies and polities are better placed to respond to disasters and catastrophes. The next section considers some of the historical instances in which threats both real and imagined affected the globe, and how they played out. These threats range from pandemics to famines to nuclear catastrophes to overpopulation to cyber collapse. The third section of the course compares and contrasts the global responses to the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 covid-19 pandemic. The fourth section of the course considers the post-coronavirus threats to the world, from climate change to the renewed possibility of great power war. The final section considers the role that fictional narratives play in thinking about catastrophes.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P295 Introduction to Human Security

Human security is a value proposition. It argues that seeking the security of the individual, as defined by that individual, is at least as important as seeking the security of the state – and sometimes more important. Although the term “human security” is relatively recent, originating in the 1990s post-Cold War era, the question of whose security is primary, the individual’s or the state’s, is seminal in international relations scholarship. The argument revolves around differences of viewpoint on what obligations the state has to its people in terms of providing for their security, and whether individuals have claims beyond the state if/when their security is threatened. In the 1990s in particular, these discussions included expanding the definition of security beyond physical safety (e.g., to include economic, identity, and rights-based dimensions), the recognition that entities other than the state provide for individuals’ security when the state either can’t or won’t, and the need for including vulnerable groups in decision-making about security provision. Human security covers a broad range of issues and practices, but they all share three main analytic components: (1) person-centered, focusing on views of security as defined from the ground up rather than top-down; (2) multi-dimensional, requiring both an interdisciplinary approach and one that integrates all voices and perspectives; and (3) preventive, choosing to look at root causes and early indicators to be pro-active rather than reactive to threat. Human security thus provides a powerful lens through which to analyze all threats to the security of individuals and communities. The issue areas in which the human security lens in most often applied include: gender-based violence; human trafficking; forced migration; drug policy; civilian protection through human rights or non-violent action; multi-track diplomacy; youth and conflict; financial inclusion; and provision of basic services such as healthcare and education. In this course, we will review the critical security and feminist security literature that preceded the development of human security. We then cover the core concepts in human security as outlined above: person-centered, multi-dimensional, and preventive. Under each of these themes, we will introduce relevant skills for building analytic competency and draw upon case studies that illustrate how these analytic approaches have been used in practice. Case studies will be drawn from the issue areas listed above. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on becoming a “reflective practitioner,” with the ability to investigate one’s own values and assumptions and incorporate the learning from this inquiry into one’s work.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P297 Engaging Human Security

This course enables students to develop a nuanced understanding of the central issues and debates in human security, and also develop a deeper understanding of various aspects of the predicament facing the people of a crisis-affected, conflict or post-conflict country, and international organizations mandated to help address their problems. Human security privileges the security and well being of humans rather than the state. A field of study in international affairs and international relations, human security focuses on issues at the heart of human rights, humanitarian affairs, conflict studies and mediation, economic development, health and wellbeing. Human security approaches are inter-disciplinary and problem-focused, and seek to understand a problem from the perspective of the people most affected, which requires an anthropological sensibility and an appreciation of different social-cultural framings of problems. Thus, the course itself is problem-focused. It takes five central fields, which human security has drawn from and influenced – human rights, humanitarian studies, feminist and gender studies, mediation and conflict resolution, and development – and uses foundational theories and applications in those fields to bring a human security lens to better understand and address current problems in Latin America. The course is also inter-disciplinary and involves readings in anthropology, political science, law, international relations, security studies, humanitarian studies, public health and trauma, conflict resolution, feminist/gender studies, economics, environmental studies, and history.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP P298 Conflict in Africa

During this course, students should gain a deeper understanding of the nature of contemporary violent conflict in Africa. Students will be expected to master the key theoretical approaches to violence in Africa, and to become familiar with a number of important case studies. The focus is on the origins and nature of violence, rather than policy responses and solutions. The course is inter-disciplinary and involves readings in political science, international relations, and social anthropology, while also touching on economics, environmental studies, and history.

Course duration: Full semester     
Credits: 3.0

DHP 300-399: Independent Study

Directed reading and research for credit, providing an opportunity for qualified students to pursue the study of particular problems within the discipline of Diplomacy, History, and Politics under the personal guidance of a member of faculty. The course may be assigned to a Field of Study according to the topic selected. By consent of the professor and petition.