MA in Global Security Studies
The curriculum of the JHU Master of Arts in Global Security Studies is designed for working adult students who are looking to develop or expand their expertise regarding the security challenges of the 21st century. Students confront the complexities of today’s security environment with the latest policy and theoretical tools for analysis and action. Particular strengths of the program are in intelligence; terrorism, insurgency, and other forms of “small wars” and armed social movements; energy and environmental security; and the emerging cyber domain and its implications for war fighting, security, privacy, and the economy.
Courses draw from the best in academia and policy making in order to offer students the cutting edge in intellectual preparedness for career advancement. Classes are designed to maximize individual attention, encourage student contribution, build analytical skills, and provide the tools for engaging in original research.
Admissions Criteria for all Advanced Academic Programs
PROGRAM SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
A 5-page, double-spaced essay on the following question:
“America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to Freedom and independence of all.” — John Quincy Adams
This quote reflects the trends in American national security for much of the nation’s history. Are the implications that can be drawn from the statement consistent with the demands of American national security in the 21st century? Discuss this problem in reference to some recent policy issues or political events, citing at least three references.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
- Four core courses
- Five elective courses
- Three research courses
Core Courses
Students must complete four core courses. With the exception of AS.470.601 Climate Change and National Security and AS.470.657 Energy, Security, and Defense all of these courses are offered every semester.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
AS.470.603 | Introduction to Global Security Studies 1 | 3 |
AS.470.605 | Global Political Economy | 3 |
AS.470.692 | Military Strategy & National Policy | 3 |
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Energy and Environmental Security | ||
Climate Change and National Security | ||
Energy, Security, and Defense | ||
Total Credits | 12 |
1 | This class should be taken in your first semester. |
Research Study Courses
This program does not require a thesis. However, it does require the completion of a rigorous research study of journal article length. The research study should make use of the qualitative and quantitative research methods that students learn in AS.470.851 Qualitative Methods in Social Science, and AS.470.854 Fundamentals of Quantitative Methods or AS.470.853 Historical Methods.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
AS.470.851 | Qualitative Methods in Social Science 1 | 3 |
Select one the following: | 3 | |
Fundamentals of Quantitative Methods | ||
Quantitative Methods 2 | ||
Historical Methods | ||
AS.470.855 | Research Study Seminar 3 | 3 |
Total Credits | 9 |
1 | This course will usually be taken in the second or third semester. |
2 | With permission from the instructor. |
3 | This class must be taken as the final semester of study. Prerequisite: Students must have passed all previous courses in the Research Study track. |
Areas of Concentration
Students may pursue a concentration in one of the fields listed below. A complete list of concentration courses is available on our website in the multi-year schedule. A selected list of electives pursuant to the concentrations is below. Please consult with your advisor if in doubt about the applicability of a course to a particular concentration. All courses are three graduate credits unless otherwise specified. Courses are offered in a variety of formats: on-site, online, and hybrid. Please refer to our website for format information regarding each of these courses.
Strategic Studies Concentration
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
AS.470.606 | U.S. Security in a Disordered World | 3 |
AS.470.611 | Introduction to Terrorism Studies | 3 |
AS.470.630 | Congress and the Making of Foreign Policy | 3 |
AS.470.632 | Security Issues in South Asia | 3 |
AS.470.633 | Transnational Organized Crime: Gangsters of the Global Underworld | 3 |
AS.470.634 | Open Source Research in Conflict, Politics and Scholarship | 3 |
AS.470.640 | Challenges of Transnational Security | 3 |
AS.470.650 | 3 | |
AS.470.653 | Russian National Security Policy | 3 |
AS.470.654 | Deterrence & Crisis Stability in the New Era of Geopolitical Competition | 3 |
AS.470.657 | Energy, Security, and Defense 1 | 3 |
AS.470.659 | Radicalization and Deradicalization in Terror Networks | 3 |
AS.470.665 | 3 | |
AS.470.668 | The Politics and Process of American Foreign Policy | 3 |
AS.470.676 | From al-Qaeda to Islamic State: Understanding the Roots of the Global Jihad Movement | 3 |
AS.470.679 | Armed Social Movements: Terrorism Insurgency and Crime | 3 |
AS.470.685 | The Challenge of Change: Innovation in Military Affairs | 3 |
AS.470.697 | Intelligence and Counterterrorism | 3 |
AS.470.704 | Strategies in Insurgent and Asymmetric Warfare | 3 |
AS.470.706 | American Military History from the World Wars to Today | 3 |
AS.470.707 | International Security and Intelligence | 3 |
AS.470.713 | Resisting Tyranny: Strategic Nonviolent Conflict | 3 |
AS.470.725 | China's Impact on Global Security | 3 |
AS.470.740 | Cyber Policy, Strategy, Conflict and Deterrence | 3 |
AS.470.744 | Trade and Security | 3 |
AS.470.745 | Terrorist Financing Analysis and Counterterrorist Finance Techniques | 3 |
AS.470.746 | Iran: Security Policy of a Revolutionary State | 3 |
AS.470.748 | The Art & Practice of Intelligence | 3 |
AS.470.750 | Modern Conflict in the Middle East | 3 |
AS.470.751 | Politics and Security in the Middle East | 3 |
AS.470.756 | Understanding Modern War | 3 |
AS.470.760 | Comparative Intelligence Systems | 3 |
AS.470.761 | Thucydides, International Politics, and War | 3 |
AS.470.767 | Defense Policy | 3 |
AS.470.775 | Warfare in Peacetime | 3 |
AS.470.777 | Technology and Terrorism | 3 |
AS.470.778 | Conflict, Security, and Development | 3 |
AS.470.784 | Technology of Weapons of Mass Destruction | 3 |
AS.470.785 | Nuclear Proliferation and Non-Proliferation | 3 |
AS.450.781 | The Global Cold War | 3 |
AS.480.661 | International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy | 3 |
Energy and Environmental Security Concentration
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
AS.470.601 | Climate Change and National Security 1 | 3 |
AS.470.657 | Energy, Security, and Defense 1 | 3 |
AS.470.773 | Energy and Environmental Security 1 | 3 |
AS.470.663 | Human Security | 3 |
AS.420.604 | Hydrology & Water Resources | 3 |
AS.420.605 | Maritime Law and the Environment | 3 |
AS.420.606 | Climate Justice | 3 |
AS.420.608 | Oceanic & Atmospheric Processes | 3 |
AS.420.612 | Sustainability Science: Concepts and Challenges | 3 |
AS.420.614 | Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis | 3 |
AS.420.624 | Ocean Stewardship and Sustainability | 3 |
AS.420.644 | Sustainable Cities | 3 |
AS.420.650 | International Environmental Policy | 3 |
AS.420.665 | Climate Change on the Front Lines: The Study of Adaptation in Developing Countries | 3 |
AS.420.668 | Sustainable Food Systems | 3 |
AS.420.676 | Global Scarcity in Freshwater Systems: Crisis and Solutions | 3 |
AS.420.679 | International Water: Issues and Policies | 3 |
AS.425.602 | Science of Climate Change and its Impact | 3 |
AS.425.603 | Climate Change Policy Analysis | 3 |
AS.425.637 | International Climate Change Policy | 3 |
AS.425.645 | Global Energy Policy | 3 |
AS.425.647 | Energy and Water Security in South Asia | 3 |
Economic security concentration
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
AS.470.601 | Climate Change and National Security 1 | 3 |
AS.470.633 | Transnational Organized Crime: Gangsters of the Global Underworld | 3 |
AS.470.651 | Corruption and Democratic Governance | 3 |
AS.470.657 | Energy, Security, and Defense 1 | 3 |
AS.470.663 | Human Security | 3 |
AS.470.674 | Advanced Data Visualization: Interactive Web Graphics | 3 |
AS.470.724 | Managing Dangerous Futures: Global Political Risk Analysis | 3 |
AS.470.725 | China's Impact on Global Security | 3 |
AS.470.744 | Trade and Security | 3 |
AS.470.745 | Terrorist Financing Analysis and Counterterrorist Finance Techniques | 3 |
AS.470.766 | Economic Growth:The Politics of Development in Asia, Africa and Beyond | 3 |
AS.470.778 | Conflict, Security, and Development | 3 |
AS.420.605 | Maritime Law and the Environment | 3 |
AS.420.606 | Climate Justice | 3 |
AS.420.624 | Ocean Stewardship and Sustainability | 3 |
Further on Electives
This is not a comprehensive list of electives; rather, it is a sampling.
After consultation with their advisor, students may also take up to two relevant courses offerings in the School of Public Health, the School of Advanced International Studies, and other graduate programs in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Sequence of Study
Students take AS.470.603 Introduction to Global Security Studies in their first semester. This course exposes students to the basic concepts that are important to the field of global security studies and allow them to apply these tools to selected security issues. In the other core classes, which should be taken early on, students use these intellectual tools as they explore the three pillars of the degree: strategic studies, energy and environmental security, and economic security.
In their second or third semester, students take 470.851 Introduction to Qualitative Methods, the first step in the research study process. After that, students take either AS.470.854 Fundamentals of Quantitative Methods or AS.470.853 Historical Methods. With this sound basis in methodology, students are prepared to write a journal article-length study in their final semester when they take AS.470.855 Research Study Seminar. Students must successfully defend their research study in order to graduate.
Students may pursue an area of concentration in one of the fields listed above. An area of concentration requires that at least four of the elective courses be from the list approved for that concentration. All concentration courses also count as general electives for students not pursuing an area of concentration.