This course is designed as a broad survey of the contemporary Security and Strategic Studies and has two interrelated objectives: The first is to familiarize students with the theoretical foundations of the Security and Strategic Studies. The second objective is to encourage students to link the theoretical debates in the discipline to empirical observations in Global Politics.
Research is one of the most crucial objectives within a BA Program. Getting to accustomed and developing on conducting a research, firstly in social sciences, specifically in Strategic topics in the world, is the main objective of this program and course. Conducting the research and especially orchestrating a social survey, problem of objectivity in strategic research, cultivating a specific formula on research problems and most importantly propound a right hypothesis on a deep subject are the assets of this course. To ensure and develop above mentioned processes and steps, scanning current articles, books and different studies in a specific area and pursuing selective reading techniques are cardinal elements to be studied. Preparing extended outline in accordance with hypothesis assembled in Security Studies, extending and transformation techniques, data collection, and research writings are the steps which will be learnt in this course. Some research topics are included into study such as security history, strategic geography, modern phenomena of peacemaking and peacekeeping, disarmament, counterinsurgency, important military strategists, types of strategies, effect of military and industrial complexes on the conflicts.
This course examines the key themes in IR: state and non-state actors, international norms, international law, international institutions, international theory and international system in a Globalized world The “Four Cs” (confrontation, compromise, co-operation and conflict) will be analyzed in depth. Last but not least, this course will focus on international security – in particular, the major threats of the 21st century
This course will help the students develop and understand various schools of thoughts of strategic studies. Furthermore, it will bridge the gap between theory and practice of strategic studies through the study of different works by classical and contemporary experts of this field. The course will help the students understand various themes of strategic studies to develop strategic thinking. Students in this course will learn how to create a balance between mindboggling theories and their applications.
This course is an introduction to international law, generally understood as the set of rules binding the international conduct of Nation-states actors and non-state actors. It will identify public international law, its sources, jurisdictions and states’ rights and obligations. Special topics to be addressed will include law of the sea, international criminal law, environmental law, human rights, and humanitarian international law. In addition, this course will provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of international law, contemporary debates and future trends.
The link between International security and environmental politics is centuries old. Increased pace and frequency of conquests and annexations, supported by mechanized and well developed equipment’s (an outcome of industrial revolution), were responsible for making the relation more explicit. This basic fact apart, throughout human history, we see a trend of ignorance towards environmental issues as greater importance always remained associated with apparatus and procedures which were considered a pre-requisite for ensuring security. These problems finally caught human attention and focus in the mid twentieth century. Since then a vast discourse has emerged to solve environmental problems by attempting to reduce the conflict between environment and International security endeavors. The main objective of designing this course is to make students familiar with this intricate web existing between security and environment. The particular discourse introduced in this subject is based primarily on liberal and feminist approaches towards International Relations as well as International Security; the approach similar to that held by Peace studies.
The course is a third-year level course for the Bachelor of Security and Strategic Studies. The course examines and analyses, through the scope of geography and political science combined, international and strategic affairs. Its scope provides an emphasis on political geography, international relations, strategic and security affairs and elements of international law when applicable in international affairs. Students will be introduced to elements of international affairs of the 20th and the 21st century, through the comprehension and utilization of maps and showcase the importance of natural resources and how pivotal role these play in international affairs seen as national, regional or international interests. Students are expected to approach international issues in way which can be define pragmatic in nature, as these vary from strategically led traditional approaches of international relations.
This course introduces a sub-field of political science known as Comparative Politics. It is one of the four traditional subfields of political science. Simply put, this is the study of political relationships and processes within particular countries (as opposed to the relations between countries), using the theoretical and empirical knowledge gained from comparative analysis. It differs from international relations for two reasons: in its focus on individual countries and regions, and its comparison across units (national and subnational actors) and substantive topics.
This course aspires to acquaint students with the various weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological) and explain to them how they can be developed (and acquired) by states and armed non-state actors and how they can be become a grave security threat in the wrong hands (i.e. rogue states or terrorists).
The course is designed to provide the students with deeper insight and perspectives towards national security and the arms race in the era of globalization. After the WWII, the dominant actors in the world politics have spent major portion of their national budget pursuing missile defense system, transnational threats, proxy wars, and star wars to shield against the threat of nuclear attacks, thus, provoking new arms races among nations and states. The emergence of 21st century is experiencing the most critical concerns of national security, which reflects the balance of power politics and the global arm race. The rapid changes emanating from the susceptibility of the transnational threats observed after post 9/11 symptoms demands more dynamic thought process to examine pure military expeditions have resulted in further alienation and paralysis of statehood theory and to some extent the democratic apparatus system. The course looks more deeply into the national security, statecraft, emergence of faith based ideological aspects, conflict resolution and peacemaking. The present trends on the arms races has seen countries both developed and under developing to set their security strategies covering risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals. The course will help students to understand responsibility of the governments to address these threats to national and international security. Students will learn basic terminologies and discusses strategic and policy debates about new forms of terrorism after the 9/11. The sessions are designed to stimulate interest and debate among the students, professionals, public and policy-makers, by providing solid facts and analysis. This also allows scientific, geopolitical, historical and strategic analysis of various components to critique the delusion of perfect national security.
This is an undergraduate course for students interested in pursuing their career in the sphere of international relations: it is for future diplomats of respective national Ministries of Foreign Affairs, those interested in working for international organizations, as well as for students interested in the day-to-day process of foreign policy making. The aim of this course is to give students an insight into the real-world practice of international relations. Lectures will introduce the most important facts and concepts about actors in the area of international relations and the basic knowledge necessary for diplomats. Other sessions will help students improve their writing and presentation skills in this area. This course will introduce students to the basic principles and techniques of modern diplomacy. The course will include discussions of international legal obligations, diplomatic policy and the role of publicity in diplomacy and different aspects of diplomacy including public diplomacy.
This course intends to examine how mass media (especially at the Age of the Internet) affects political system, social stability, crisis, or ongoing wars. Concepts about fake news, brainwashing and propaganda wars will be examined through various cases studies.
The Special Topics in Strategic Studies’ is intended to showcase the diversified areas of teaching that has wide relevance in local, regional and global context. Special Topics on Security will also provide the necessary skills for students to identify and assess contemporary security situations, most of which may include events and problematics on crime, terrorism, criminality, public and private security, cybersecurity, asymmetric warfare and illegal trade.
International conflicts are traditionally associated with dispute of two or more nation-states (inter-state), but could be related to conflict within one country(intra-state), when one or more groups are fighting for specific cause that have international consequences. The course will analyze international conflicts, while examining strategies and tactic for conflict management and conflict resolution.
After 9/11 terrorism studies has emerged as a science and made a considerable number of social scientists and scholars write and debate about complex dynamics of terrorism. This course is designed to make the students understand all the dynamics of Terrorism in detail.
This course examines the defense policies of major world powers in an effort to understand the policy-making issues with regards to national security. In addition, the inter-connection between strategy and defense is briefly analyzed. The application of the defense policy in crisis situations, bilateral and multilateral realties as well as interactions with global actors other than states is also of essence.
This course will expose students to the evolution of the International System in the 21st Century, focusing on the causes and processes of regional and global power rise and collapse. The course emphasizes the role of emerging international powers and the fundamental factors driving their rise in addition to the significance of crisis international law in the emergence of these new world powers. As a result of this course, students will be able to examine the various aspects of power in these states and analyze their central policies.
Pre-Internship is a one credit hour internship preparatory course designed for students seeking an internship. The course will prepare students to successfully plan their internship by researching and identifying potential internship opportunities, creating professional resume and letter of introduction, developing interviewing and networking skills as well as a portfolio per industry requirements. Students will go through different learning modules including experiences, team work skills, communication skills, leadership skills, problem solving, self-management and professionalism to be able to make the most of their internship.
This Internship course offers students a substantial industry placement. The Internship course intends to provide students the opportunity to apply and develop their classroom and academic learning in the workplace environment related to their study discipline and chosen specialization prior to graduation. Students typically enroll in this course in their penultimate or final semester. Employers increasingly expect university graduates and their graduate employees to have gained practical and vocationally specific experience as part of an undergraduate degree program. They also expect graduates to behave with an accomplished professionalism and to have developed professional attitudes, skills and behaviors. Undergraduate students, likewise, wish to have the academic and practical skill set to be valued as a potential employee. Undergraduate students also seek knowledge about the various career possibilities and opportunities in security field. An internship allows current students to understand the relationship between their academic and career choices and build a personal portfolio to assist them to make their career ambitions become a reality.