Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program (SSP) is the academic pillar of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) and one of eight master’s degree programs offered in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). SSP is a multidisciplinary course of study designed to prepare graduates for positions within the defense and security fields.

The program's overarching mission is to produce a new generation of analysts, policymakers, and scholars fully knowledgeable about the range of international and national security problems and foreign policy issues of the 21st Century. The SSP has over 30 years of experience preparing students with a wide range of backgrounds to become leaders in their fields.... [-]

The MA program in National Security Studies is designed for students and professionals who are seriously interested in the field of national security in the broadest sense of the term. Students will examine the complex interrelationship between the social, political, diplomatic, economic and military dimensions of national security to create a comprehensive picture of the state of the nation.

This program aims to prepare graduates, policymakers, officials and other professionals to deal effectively with critical national decisions.

Facing a long-standing challenge at the center of a mostly hostile regional environment, Israel has accumulated the experience and has developed a comprehensive approach to national security, combining academic theory and real-world constraints.... [-]

MA International Politics and Security Studies

This course reflects the particular values of Peace Studies at Bradford, with a curriculum that provides a thorough grounding in the theoretical and empirical foundations of the discipline whilst also offering students the opportunity to engage with the core questions of peace and security that animate the research work of lecturers here.

Our research is founded on an understanding that no single discipline on its own is sufficient to comprehend the dynamics of issues as complex as war, world hunger, sustainable development and social justice, or problems as challenging as negotiating our differences in culture and belief.

You will acquire subject-specific knowledge and understanding of:... [-]

MA Conflict, Security and Development

This course has been established in recognition of the way that concerns about the relationship between security and development have increasingly guided policy action and academic analysis on a range of issues in the post-Cold War era. Indeed, the merger of security and development is generally considered to be one of the defining features of the post-Cold War security debate.

For supporters, this conceptual merger has been central to the success of recent campaigns to raise aid, eliminate debt, address global ills such as landmines and promote human security inside weak and post-conflict states in particular.

For critics, on the other hand, the linking of development and security has unduly securitised the representation of a range of developing world actors and has legitimised a variety of quasi-imperial Western interventions ranging from the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to pervasive programmes of economic, political and societal reform inside formerly sovereign states.... [-]

The one-year program provides advanced knowledge and analytical tools for the study of strategy, diplomacy, decision-making and the shaping of security and foreign policy. The outlook of the program is global, with a special focus on Israel and the Middle East. At the practical level, the program prepares students for engagement in the international arena, defense bodies, international organizations (both governmental and NGOs) and international economic organizations.

Thesis track available.

Israel is at the focus of the world's attention in both security and diplomacy matters. It is also the center of enormous professional expertise in both these fields. Embodying that unique knowledge and skill, our program brings together internationally renowned scholars and leading practitioners in both security and diplomacy, offering students an exceptional learning experience in English. Educational tours and meetings with Israeli and foreign officials are incorporated into the curriculum. Students come from all over the world and are encouraged to undertake internships and other extra-curricular activities during their year stay in Israel.... [-]

DMGS' M.A. in Intelligence focuses on both the public and private sector use of intelligence examining missions, methods, and organizational structures. It examines and interprets the four major elements of intelligence – collection, analysis, analytical presentation, and counterintelligence. This program also examines new fields of intelligence such as private sector use of intelligence, homeland security, and cyber.

DMGS' M.A. in National Security enhances students’ skills to anticipate the trends in the global environment; the short-and long-term aims, strategies, instruments, and vulnerabilities of competitors; and to identify the resulting specific opportunities – in a given region or globally – to advance U.S. interests. The program also covers U.S. government organizational and institutional arrangements, and the authorities of individual agencies to implement policy. In addition, the tensions between national security policy and practices and liberal democracy will be considered – and how the U.S. and other democracies have sought to reconcile them.

This program covers the functional utility of individual instruments, and integrated “whole of government” planning in regional geographic contexts, with particular emphasis on the non-kinetic capabilities of the other two DMGS programs – Intelligence and Information Operations.... [-]

International Security, a track of the master International Relations, is aimed at issues of power politics and international order, peace and war, and strategy and diplomacy. Its main focus is the phenomenon of, and theoretical reflection on, 'violence' in its broader context.

Traditionally, attention for warfare and political violence, i.e. military security, has dominated the study of International Security. They still form the central issues. But especially after the Cold War other concerns occupy the agenda, such as environmental security (about climate change or industrial hazards), societal security (about group identities) and economic security (about welfare and development). These different types of concerns have their own meaning when studying the causes of violent conflict, its prevention and management, and conflict resolution and reconciliation.... [-]

The question of security now dominates contemporary international politics. Issues such as the 'War on Terror', pre-emptive, self-defence and humanitarian intervention constitute seminal international concerns that have implications for all states and all peoples.

This course provides you with a detailed understanding of the nature of the contemporary security agenda, its origins, theoretical foundations and future trajectory. You will examine the theories of international security and those key security issues that have dominated security discourse in the post-Cold War era. You will also develop your analytical skills in order to facilitate understanding of the seminal contemporary security issues in a broader theoretical and historical framework.... [-]

The master study programme Public Policy and Security is designed to broaden your perspective and sharpen specific skills to prepare you to be a professional leader in the public sector. The programme will inspire and prepare you to be a competent actor in public policy and security processes and make evidence-based decisions. Make an impact in the world, pursue powerful ideas and advance your capacity to lead!

The aim of the study programme is to prepare professionals of high competence having profound knowledge in public governance and policy theories, able to analyse and evaluate security processes in comparative perspective, to design and implement relevant analyses applying sophisticated methodological approaches that form the background for problem-solving recommendations.... [-]

In today’s ever-changing world, an advanced understanding of international communication, business, and development is crucial. With the Master of Arts in International Relations online program, you can learn to conduct credible research, plan strategies and view the effects of global actions in a new light. With our extensive military history, we have seen firsthand the value of diplomacy, trade, and compromise. In fact, this value has made master’s degrees in International Relations the No. 5 best “Master’s Degree for Jobs” (Forbes). Without ethical experts at the helm, there could be negative consequences for global relationships. That’s why we’re preparing leaders for global engagement. You can become one of them. Learn how to analyze and apply data, understand international relations theories and laws, and dig into research and topics that matter most to you. Depending on your area of interest, you can use your skills and experience to help drive change in any sector — public, private and nonprofit.... [-]

Security Policy Studies (SPS) is a policy-oriented master's degree program focusing on international security issues, with a particular emphasis on the security challenges for the 21st century and how to respond to them. These challenges include but are not limited to: weapons of mass destruction proliferation, transnational threats, terrorism, changing regional power dynamics, weak and failing states, international crime, effectively linking security and development, and ensuring U.S. national security.

The curriculum provides a strong grounding in the national security and defense policy-making process. Students choose two specific concentrations — which can range from transnational security issues to conflict resolution to defense analysis. Students also have the option of emphasizing a particular region, such as East Asia, the Middle East, or Latin America, by selecting a regional field as one of their two concentrations.... [-]

The MA Program in International Security provides in-depth knowledge and understanding of the international security environment of the 21st century. To enable students to master the complex challenges of the post-9/11 world, the program views security from a broad theoretical and historical perspective, placing traditional security concerns in the context of such fields as development, economics, and human rights. Students focus on topics including strategy, foreign policy, intelligence, homeland security, military analysis, regional security and conflict resolution. The curriculum combines relevant coursework with a mandatory internship, providing students with the knowledge and skills demanded by the market for the international security professional, broadly defined. Graduates are exceptionally well prepared to serve as administrators, executives, diplomats, military and civil servants, policy analysts, and consultants.... [-]

A one-year intensive MA Program

Organised in cooperation with The Egmont Institute – Royal Institute of International Relations, The Belgian Royal Academy and the Institute for Economics and Peace

Directed by Professor Jamie Shea (former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Emerging Security Challenges) this unique one-year Master’s program provides students and professionals with comprehensive knowledge and policy-oriented skills at the intersection of peace, security and strategic studies. Designed, led and taught by an international network of leading international academics from top universities and think tanks as well as senior policy-makers from the United Nations, NATO and the European Union, this program enables students interested in an international career in government, international organizations, think tanks or NGOs to gain unique theoretical foundations, practical skill-sets, and high-level contacts.... [-]

This innovative course provides you with a framework for detailed investigation of international security and terrorism.

Security and safety have always been at the heart of the human condition. An understanding of security involves studying not only what makes us feel secure, but also what we regard as threatening.

In the current international environment, with the upsurge in international terrorism and conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, this course offers the opportunity for in-depth study and analysis.

Taught by international security and terrorism experts, this course will introduce you to some of the major schools of thought within the discipline including realism, liberalism and critical theory.... [-]