Overview | Track | Qualifications | Cost | Fall 2023 Courses
Resources | Calendar | NSI in DC Brochure
The Diana Davis Spencer Program in National Security allows students to earn a Master of National Security and Intelligence (NSI). This degree is designed for early career professionals with a desire to prepare themselves for an emerging career in the Intelligence Community. The degree aims to strengthen students’ ability to understand complex issues through rigorous coursework. Well-published scholars and seasoned practitioners lead in-depth classroom discussions, collaborate on research, and mentor students in and out of the classroom. The program seeks to expand students’ worldview and prepare them for careers in national security and intelligence.
Overview
The NSI program is a 42-credit-hour program with a final capstone project and a language requirement.
Language Requirement:
Many careers in national security and intelligence require languages. Bush School students are expected to acquire intermediate or better proficiency in a foreign language by the end of the degree program. Students do not receive credit for the language courses.
Capstone Project:
The capstone project takes place toward the end of the degree program. A group of three to five students work together on a project for a client. The project will allow students to gain real-world professional experience, including networking opportunities, while creating a final product that helps the client and can be shared with potential employers.
Curriculum:
The curriculum consists of six required courses:
- 605 – American Foreign Policy
- 606 – International Politics in Theory and Practice
- 608 – Global Economy
- 652 – Role of Intelligence in Security Affairs
- 689 – Research Methods
- 670 – Capstone
Students will also take:
- four track electives from Intelligence, National Security, and Area Studies and
- four additional electives
For information on application procedures, please contact our Admissions Office at 202-773-0022 or BushSchoolDC@tamu.edu.
Track
National Security
- 620 – International Security
- 650 – National Security Law
- 651 – National Security Policy and the Military
- 657 – Terrorism in Today’s World
- 680 – Political Violence and Terrorism
- 689 – Strategy, Risk and Foresight in International Relations
- 689 – People, Regimes and Power
- 689 – Race and International Relations
- 689 – Culture and International Politics
- 689 – Foreign Policy Process
- 689 – Geo-Politics of Oil
- 706 – Cyberspace implications for National Security
Intelligence
- 657 – Terrorism in Today’s World
- 680 – Political Violence and Terrorism
- 689 – National Security Investigations and Operations
- 689 – Intelligence Surprises
- 689 – National Security Investigations and Operations
- 696 – Analytic Tradecraft
- 700 – Counterintelligence
- 706 – Cyberspace implications for National Security
- 714 – Defense Intelligence
Area Studies
- 621 – Chinese Foreign Policy
- 672 – East Asian Security
- 676 – International Politics of the Middle East
- 686 – Russian International Politics
- 689 – Conflict and Development in Africa
- 689 – Eurasian Security
- 689 – Rising Powers
- 689 – Eastern European Politics
- 689 – Culture and International Politics
- 689 – People, Regimes and Power
- 689 – Key Issues in European Politics
- 689 – The U.S. in the Middle East
- 689 – African Politics and Regional Affairs
- 689 – Intelligence Surprises
- 689 – Conflict and Development in Africa
* – All courses subject to change
Qualifications
Students must have earned a bachelor’s degree by the start of their first semester. No professional experience required.
Cost
The Bush School of Government and Public Service is committed to supporting graduate students as they pursue careers in public service. The Bush School DC offers an affordable fixed rate tuition:
- Estimated yearly cost: $1,300 per credit hour (3-credit-hour course = $3,900)
Fall 2023 Courses
The following is a tentative schedule for classes in fall 2022. Students will register for classes through the Texas A&M “Howdy” portal.
All classes meet in Bush School DC location – 1620 L Street, NW.
Monday
Day: Monday | Instructor: Pino | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: Key questions that we will seek to answer will include: Why did the Arab Spring protests that swept the Middle East in 2011 calling for sweeping change end in region-wide conflict, failed states, and increased repression? What impact has turmoil and violence in the Middle East had on US interests and US policy toward the region? How do Middle Eastern states view the US role and presence? What are the key factors—including the role and policies of the United States–that will shape the future of the region? We will attempt to answer these questions by taking an in depth look at the causes and consequences of the Arab Spring, the impact on specific countries, and the role of regional and outside actors in the various conflicts that the Arab uprisings have spawned. The course also examines the evolution of US policy since the Arab uprisings and the future US role in a time of great uncertainty. Finally, the instructor will draw on his experience as the National Intelligence Offer for the Near East at the National intelligence Council to discuss the role that US intelligence plays in informing policymakers.
Day: Monday | Instructor: Lemon | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
This course aims to provide students with the conceptual and critical tools to understand and analyze the origins, institutions, and policy challenges of contemporary American foreign policy. In assessing the transition away from the post-9/11 focus on non-state actors, irregular warfare, and counterterrorism towards a “return” to great power or strategic competition and the challenges posed by adversary states, we will evaluate how American policymakers and institutions have addressed core questions about American statecraft since the founding of the Republic.
Day: Monday | Instructor: Kelly | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course is a graduate level introduction to US policy toward Latin America—past, present, and future. The analytical framework and factual content that this course provides will serve as a basis for students’ specific individual research projects dealing with political, economic and social issues in the region and will provide a forum to think, learn, and talk about Latin America in relation to US policy. We will explore the foundations of US policy in the region as a basis for our investigation of current issues.
Day: Monday | Instructor: Laurienti | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course will provide a deep dive into three issues that are among the most prominent in shaping interactions across Africa today: conflict, demographics, and development. Exercises around practitioner experiences will be at the core of classroom interactions. The course will be divided into thirds, with each section dedicated to one of the three issue areas, but the course will include some overlap between the areas, particularly demographics, which is a key driver of the other two course themes.
Day: Monday | Instructor: Shim | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course addresses emerging political economy questions related to the resurgence of geoeconomic competition and the potential end of the liberal economic order. As key states in the global economic system shift from market to security logics in assessing the benefits and costs of economic openness, the institutional rules and norms that structured economic exchange have begun to change. We will study how East Asian states use economic tools to achieve its political objectives and how geography can be linked to political economic imperatives and trends at the global level.
Tuesday
Day: Tuesday | Instructor: Weber | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course provides an in-depth analysis of the politics, institutions, and security dynamics of Europe, including the history, evolution, and current state of the European Union (EU) and NATO as supranational entities.
Day: Tuesday | Instructor: Lemon | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course examines the interplay between people, regimes and power, a field called comparative politics. In this course, we will examine how political institutions, actors, and processes arise, operate and change around the world and how they affect society, culture, and the economy. Using the comparative method, which seeks to understand the similarities and differences between these systems, we can examine complex and fundamental issues.
Day: Tuesday | Instructor: Shynkaruk | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Spring 2023
Course Description: This course provides students with an introduction to the study of international relations. The purpose of this course is to systematically study international interactions across borders between actors with different interests and ideas, such as states, non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations and international organizations. In this course we will explore topics, encounter puzzles, examine theories, and evaluate evidence to try to gain a greater understanding of world politics.
Day: Tuesday | Instructor: Carr | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This is course introduces students to the interpretation and application of social science research methods and critical thinking. This course emphasizes the comparison of alternative philosophies of research, ways of formulating questions/hypotheses, research plans, and analysis procedures. Students evaluate existing studies and investigate a range of research approaches.
Day: Tuesday | Instructor: Gentile | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2022
Course Description: Rising in the post WWII era and honed to effect during the Cold War, Defense Intelligence became the indispensable component of warfighting anchoring our National Defense. Defense intelligence has evolved and matured to a diverse and multifaceted enterprise responsible for supporting a wide range of activities from national policy decision making, through Combatant Commander joint and combined operations, to provisioning relevant intelligence and capability directly impacting tactical combat operations.
Wednesday
Day: Wednesday | Instructor: Gause | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: Oil has been described as the most important commodity in the world. It might also be the most political. This course will examine three important issues in the political economy of global oil.
Day: Wednesday | Instructor: Ross | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: “National Security Investigations and Operations” is a three-hour graduate course designed to give students an in-depth understanding of federal counterintelligence, and counterterrorism investigations and operations. It introduces students to the jurisdictions of federal law enforcement agencies and the roles and responsibilities of Special Agents. The course employs a practicum approach, utilizing classroom instruction, followed by exercises intended to allow the student to experience all facets of a simulated investigation.
Day: Wednesday | Instructor: Weber | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Spring 2022
Course Description: This survey course on Russian politics and statecraft addresses enduring questions on a huge, critical, yet poorly understood country. We will evaluate Russia’s patterns of cooperation and confrontation with other great powers, Russia’s role in Eurasia, the tension between the state and the market, and a political culture that combines strong formal laws yet very weak political institutions.
Day: Wednesday | Instructor: Shim | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2022
Course Description: This course is designed to familiarize students with International Political Economy (IPE). IPE considers the flows of production, distribution, and consumption across national borders, recognizing that not just national governments play a role, but individual actors and international institutions must also be taken into account. In this class, you will study how politics influence global economy and vice versa, where at least one of the variables is international.
Day: Wednesday | Instructor: Peterlin | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: The course focuses primarily on the institutions and process by which the President and the executive branch determine (and execute) the diplomatic priorities of the nation and addresses the roles of Congress and the Courts. We’ll discuss some domestic policy examples, as they illustrate the pressures on the institutions in our constitutional republic. Students will engage both analytical frameworks and examples, as they investigate how the policy-making process varies across different issue areas, and whether that variability raises concerns.
Thursday
Day: Thursday | Instructor: Ross | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Spring 2023
Course Description: This three-hour graduate course is a survey of intelligence community structure, operations, tradecraft, and objectives, with a particular emphasis on how intelligence has contributed and continues to contribute to national security. All intelligence community mission areas will be examined in detail, including collection (human, signals, and imagery), covert action, liaison, analysis, and counterintelligence.
Day: Thursday | Instructor: Mattis | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: This course is an intensive reading and research course in Chinese strategic thought from the Warring States period (403-221 BC) to 21st Century China. Much of the secondary literature on Chinese strategic thought argues there are key continuities in approaches to war and peace that cut across time and historical context. For the past two decades there has been a renewed attention to Sun Zi both inside the Chinese military professional education system and out.
Day: Thursday | Instructor: Daly | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Spring 2023
Course Description: This course will examine the fundamentals of understanding the threat posed by terrorism, the basics of counterterrorism, and look at several key issues important to the study of terrorism. The approach of this course is multi-disciplinary, examining terrorism through the lens of political science, history, law, economics, criminology, and religious studies. The course is designed to provide a basis for understanding the phenomenon of terrorism, and to set it into an appropriate context in relation to other critical issues facing a globalized society.
Day: Thursday | Instructor: Kanin | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2022
Course Description: This course will examine the theory, practice, institutions, and non-governmental actors involved national security interests and decision-making. It will consider US relations with allies and adversaries, and approaches to crises and conflict-prone regions.
Day: Thursday | Instructor: Shynkaruk | Time: 6:30-9:10pm
Syllabus: Fall 2023
Course Description: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought the East European region back into the spotlight of global politics and a new security reality raising the specter of a new Cold War. This course will review East European states’ history and political culture, state- and nation-building experiences, and the role of identities in shaping their geopolitical futures. We will look into case studies of the different trajectories of post-communist transformations in interplay with their domestic and international politics. The course will explore Russia’s evolving confrontation with other great powers over its privileged role in the region.
Academic Resources
Career Services:
Students will have access to dedicated one-on-one career counseling with our Director of Enrollment Management, Career and Student Services. Our goal at the Bush School DC is to help students find their chosen career path, whether that is advancing in their current position or pursuing new endeavors.
Writing Resources:
The Bush School DC provides writing services to help students with academic and professional writing. Appointments can be in person or online.
Bush School DC Library:
The Bush School DC provides an in-house librarian to help students with any research needs. In addition to our collection of library resources, students have access to Texas A&M’s vast digital and library collections.
Internships:
Internships are strongly recommended for students who do not have any experience in the Intelligence Community. Our Career Services staff will help students find an internship that best fits their needs. Credit is available for internships.
Academic Calendar
The following changes to the Texas A&M University’s 2022-23 Academic Calendar will apply to Bush School DC. They are occasioned by different holidays in the District of Columbia that will require the closing of the teaching site.
