This course is designed to help you, the student, better understand and analyze the evolution of U.S. Foreign Policy past, present, and future. It sets the stage for a comprehensive approach to how key foreign and defense policy and strategy actors in Washington develop, coordinate, and implement foreign policy decisions in support of America’s national and international security principles and interests. The course also introduces relevant conceptual frameworks to highlight current foreign policy challenges facing the United States, its allies, and coalition partners whether dealing with China and Russia or confronting terrorism and illicit networks to mitigate risks emanating from threats and vulnerabilities to U.S. national and international security interests. It sets out to highlight the inherent mismatches between U.S. principles and interests and between strategy and policy utilizing a series of historical case studies beginning with World War I. Moreover, this course will provide you with the necessary U.S. practical foreign policy and strategy skills and tools that will last you a lifetime as you map your future national and international security career paths following graduation. The course will also address the following select topics including general theories related to international politics and U.S. Foreign Policy; relations between U.S. Foreign Policy and international security; Grand Strategy; U.S. counterterrorism and terrorism financing; countering international criminal organizations and illicit networks; the nexus between policy and national intelligence; the nexus between U.S. defense Intelligence and US. national Intelligence; private security contractors; Guantanamo and Combat Detentions; War, alliances, and coalition-buildings; national security law; congressional and presidential roles in Foreign Policy; The role of the U.S. National Security Council staff; the impact of think tanks and advocacy special interests on U.S. foreign policy; the role of the U.S. media in shaping public policy; and diplomacy and peace-building.
About the instructor: Professor Kamal A. Beyoghlow (BEY-O-LOU) received his PhD degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. His Master’s degree in International Relations from Tufts University, and his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University.
He served as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of the U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) initiating and implementing U.S. counterterrorism policy and strategy and was also the Principal Representative of DOS to President Obama’s Periodic Review Board for the Guantanamo Combat Detention facility in Cuba where he helped resettle detainees abroad. He taught national security and international relations at the Marine Corps University in Quantico where he also served as Director of the Strategic Level of War course. He started his U.S. Government career as an analyst of psychological military operations for the U.S. Army.
He also served as a political analyst at the CIA and was a tenured faculty of Grand Strategy and Chair of the Department of Culture and Regional Studies at the U.S. National War College, the highest military academy in the United States.
Requirement for ALL semester students:
The last four weeks of the semester (March 27 to April 17) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions.
Your selected seminar will begin the week of January 9 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.
**NO additional registration required.