Strategic Studies deals with the relationship between politics and military power including the preparation, the threat and use of force, and its latent presence in international politics. Though the end of the Cold War has profoundly altered the nature of War, the bitter civil wars in the Balkans, Central Asia and Africa as well as the most recent instances of military response to the threat of international terrorism indicate that force continues to play a large role in international politics. The goal of the Strategic Studies program is to help students understand the nature of force in world politics. Whether or not Strategic Studies concentrators will participate directly in military affairs (as officials, analysts, journalists, or military officers), the program prepares them to make intelligent and well-informed assessments on a wide range of strategic issues. The study of national security issues at SAIS dates back to the founding of the school in 1943, but gained its greatest impetus under the direction of Professor Robert Osgood, who established a formal program in the field in 1980. The program was formerly directed by Professor Eliot A. Cohen, who came to the school in 1990. As Prof. Cohen is now on leave with the State Department, Professor Thomas Keaney is currently the acting director of the Strategic Studies Program. Campus Options Students studying at the Bologna Center may concentrate in Strategic Studies. Ph.D. Program The Strategic Studies Program takes a maximum of two Ph.D. students a year, more often one, with no more than seven at any given time. The admission process is extremely competitive, with some 15 applicants for each opening. The SAIS Ph.D. is in international relations, not political science or history. Military officers going on to alternate field and educational assignments are good candidates, as are students with SAIS M.A. degrees who are beginning to establish themselves in fields such as defense consulting. Typical Strategic Studies Courses Click here for a full list of Strategic Studies courses. - American Defense Policy
- American Intelligence: Its Role, Practice and Impact
- The American Military
- Anthropology for Strategists
- Decision-Making During Wartime
- A History of Irregular Warfare
- Introduction to Defense Analysis
- Net Assessment
- Seminar in Crisis Simulation (one semester credit)
- Strategic Thought From Sun Tzu to the Present
- Strategy and Policy
- Thucydides and Machiavelli
- War in the Modern World
- The War on Terror
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