SYLLABUS
POLITICAL SCIENCE 479: NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
San Diego State University Fall Semester 2014
Wednesdays 4:00-6:40 pm., 248 Life Sciences South
Ronald J. Bee, Instructor
Office: 223-A Storm Hall
Phone: 619-594-6944 (SDSU); Email: rbee@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2-4 pm or by appointment
Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives
This course will introduce you to the basic concepts, theoretical debates and practical policy
issues surrounding American national security. The course has four sections. In the first section
we will examine the historical setting and the major theoretical traditions surrounding the study
of national security. The second section will address the context of national security
domestically and internationally, including who’s who in the international system and the US
political system. In the third section, we will study the U.S. national security establishment of
the executive branch of the US government including the President, the National Security
Council, the Department of Defense, and intelligence agencies as well as the roles for the
legislative branch in the U.S. Congress. Our fourth section will examine national security and
the policy-making process, with a view toward understanding some of the longer-term national
security issues such and terrorism and the future of NATO.
The premise behind this course will take you a modern-day understanding of how we make
national security policy in the United States.
Student learning objectives for this course include:
1. Understanding the concepts and theories of American national security policy-making
including realist, institutional (collective security), liberal and constructivist approaches.
2. Understanding the roles, responsibilities, and powers of US governmental and nongovernmental actors (especially the executive and legislative branches) in national
security policy-making.
3. Understanding the basic premises behind the evolution of American national security
doctrines from its early days as a fledgling democracy to the current days as a world
superpower. By the end of this course students should have a clear historical sense of the
interplay between world events and the chosen approaches to American national security.
4. Understanding the historical influence and consequences of surprise attacks for the
development of American national security policy.
5. Understanding the Constitutional role of Congress in national security making, oversight,
and power of the purse.
6. Understanding the important role of civilian control of the military, and the
Constitutional roles that the President of the United States and the Executive Branch play
in this process.
7. Understanding the important role of checks and balances in the US national security
system, including the roles of Congress, the media and the press, and the ballot box.
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8. In two policy memos, students will learn how to write clearly and in the active voice on a
current national security issue, describing background, level of national security interest,
at least three competing options, and choosing one of them as a personal
recommendation.
9. Students will learn how to think and write critically with a view toward thoughtful
analysis of alternatives for either managing or resolving a current American national
security problem.
You live in an important age where national security policy matters, where learning the facts and
principles of the American experience abroad counts as much as applying them toward the
development of your own views at home. In this course, you will have that opportunity. Via
two policy memos, you will also have the opportunity to improve your writing skills, crucial to
expressing your views in this class, let alone in any occupation you currently have or so desire.
We will learn the difference between active and passive writing, how to get to the point, conduct
thoughtful analysis of alternatives, and develop your own point of view.
To succeed, you must show up, master the readings from the assigned books and articles on
blackboard (www.blackboard.sdsu.edu ), think critically and participate in class (not just
occupy a chair), learn to express your views effectively on a foreign policy topic in a policy
memo format, and do well on the midterm and final exams (multiple choice and essay format).
In each class, we will briefly discuss how readings in this course apply directly to current issues
of national security concern. You should read a newspaper or magazine of your choice, track a
news website of your choice, and/or pay attention to TV and radio news shows that discuss
current issues in US national policy. Attendance remains key to your success since lectures will
indicate specific trends in readings that will appear on exams. Participation requires your active
presence in class.
If you take this class as a general education requirement, your goals will also include:
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Goal 1: Explore and recognize basic terms, concepts, and domains of the social and
behavioral sciences.
Goal 2: Comprehend diverse theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences.
Goal 3: Identify human behavioral patterns across space and time and discuss their
interrelatedness and distinctiveness.
Goal 4: Enhance understanding of the social world through the application of conceptual
frameworks from the social and behavioral sciences to first-hand engagement with
contemporary issues.
Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need
accommodations for this class, you must contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473.
To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability
Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations do not happen retroactively, and
that I cannot provide accommodations based upon disability until I have received an
accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Thank you for your cooperation
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Books and Online Resources:
1. Sam C. Sarkesian, John Allen Williams, and Stephen J. Cimbala, US National Security:
Policymakers, Processes & Politics, Fifth Edition, Rienner, 2013. REQUIRED
2. John Lewis Gaddis, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience, Harvard, 2004.
REQUIRED
3. Truman Security Briefing Book, 6th Edition, Online book (chapters will also appear on
Blackboard) found here for free: http://briefingbook.trumanproject.org/ REQUIRED
Course Requirements and Grading:
1. Mandatory Attendance/Participation (10% of your grade) -- If you miss class more
than once during the semester, your letter grade will drop by one full grade for each
lecture you miss. Participation means participating in the class discussion, engaging in
the subject matter not just occupying a chair. Participation also means staying for the
whole class. When sick or otherwise incapacitated, you will require proof of illness or
unusual circumstances, and when possible before you miss class.
2. Midterm (30% of your grade) – The midterm will include multiple choice questions
and an essay on the material covered up to that point. OCTOBER 8, 2014.
3. Two separate policy memos--One 3-page and one 2-page Policy Memo on an issue in
American Foreign Relations (30% of your grade, 15% for each memo) – For more
on the policy memos, see below. Due Dates: 3-PAGE MEMO DUE OCTOBER 29,
2014, 2 PAGE MEMO DUE NOVEMBER 19, 2014.
4. Final Exam (30% of your grade), covering readings and lectures, and the entire course.
The final will include multiple choice and essays. DECEMBER 17, 2014 4:00-600 pm.
Grading: 100 points possible: A, 91-100 points; A-, 89-90 points; B+, 86-88 points; B, 81-85
points; B-,79-80 points; C+, 76-78 points; C, 71-75 points, C-, 69-70 points; D+, 66-68 points;
D, 61-65 points, D-, 59-61 points; F, 58 or less points.
Do not plagiarize or cheat! Plagiarism or cheating of any type, shape, or form will cause you
real world of global hurt. During exams, no cell phones are allowed; if you use one, you fail the
course. Plagiarism is defined as submitting someone else’s work without proper citation;
buying a paper from a paper-mill, copying sentences, phrases, paragraphs, or idea’s from
someone else’s work published or unpublished online or in print without giving the original
author credit; piecing together phrases, ideas, and sentences from a variety of sources to write an
essay; and submitting your own paper in more than one course. For information on plagiarism,
cheating and their consequences, including failing an assignment, receiving a lower grade,
failing a course, or expulsion, see: http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism.
The Policy Memos: As a deputy to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, you must prepare two
position papers (double spaced, #12 Font, memo #1, 3 pages, memo #2 on a separate topic, 2
pages) on a pressing issue in American national security. An additional page for each memo will
contain your sources and/or endnotes—and please, no Wikipedia. You should write the memo in
clear, persuasive, and succinct prose, have a title that indicates your view, adopt a school of
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thought as your approach, acknowledge at least two other approaches, and recommend a course
of action. Your sources should include government sources (www.defense.gov,
http://www.state.gov/, http://www.whitehouse.gov/, Congressional Research Service Reports
http://fas.org/sgp/crs , independent journals (like International Security, Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Policy), and articles (online or print) pertinent to your topic.
Your memos must have four separate but related sections with these exact sub-headings: I.
Background and Context of the problem (How did we get here?); II. Level of National
Security Interest (First Order: Vital, Second Order: Critical, or Third Order: Serious, with your
explanation why; III. Options for resolving the problem or issue (What should we do? You must
provide at least three different options, assessing pluses and minuses of each); and IV. Your
specific Recommendation, based on your analysis delivered in sections I-III (What do you think
we should do, and why?). What you argue will remain less important that how you argue it.
Pick something you care about, and do not write a book report. Get to the point and persuade the
reader to choose your recommended option between diverse options.
For some tips on active writing, also refer to your course documents on blackboard: “Nine Easy
Steps to Longer Sentences,” Active vs. Passive Voice video, and USCIS Plain Language: Active
Voice video.
Part I: The Historical Setting and Theories of National Security
August 27: COURSE OVERVIEW
September 3: US National Security Doctrines Historically Viewed
Reading:
1. Francis P. Sempa, “US National Security Doctrines Historically Viewed,” Foreign
Service Dispatches and Periodic Reports on Foreign Policy, April, 2004. (Document #1
on blackboard) Available online at:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2004_0406/sempa_nsd/sempa_nsd.html
September 10: National Interests, Realism, and Institutionalism
Readings:
1. Sarkesian, US National Security, Chapter 1: “National Interests and National Security,”
pp. 1-20;
2. J. Peter Pham, “What is in the National Interest? Hans J. Morganthau’s Realist Vision
and American Foreign Policy,” American Committee on Foreign Policy, October 24,
2008. (Document #2) Also here:
http://www.jmu.edu/nelsoninstitute/National%20Interest.pdf
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3. John J. Mearsheimer, “The False Promise of International Institutions,” International
Security, Volume 19, No. 3, (Winter 1994-9), pp. 5-49. Available here:
http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0021.pdf
4. Robert Keohane and Lisa Martin, “The Promise of Institutionalist Theory,” International
Security, Volume 20, No. 1, Summer 1995, pp. 52-61; Available here:
http://users.dickinson.edu/~mitchelk/readings/03.2.KeohaneMartin1995The-Promise.pdf
5. Charles Kupchan, “The Promise of Collective Security,” International Security, Volume
20, No. 1, Summer 1995, pp. 52-61; Available here:
http://www.academia.edu/5606072/The_Promise_of_Collective_Security
September 17: Liberalism and Constructivism
Readings:
1. Michael W. Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics,” The American Political Science
Review, Vol. 80, No 4. (December 1986), pp. 1151-1169. Available here:
http://bev.berkeley.edu/fp/readings/Doyle.txt
2. John M. Owen, How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace, International Security, Vol.
19, No. 2 (Autumn 1994), pp. 87-125. Available here:
http://www.metu.edu.tr/~utuba/Owen.pdf
3. Alexander Wendt, “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of
Power Politics,” International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Spring 1992), pp. 391-425.
Available here: http://ic.ucsc.edu/~rlipsch/Pol272/Wendt.Anarch.pdf
4. Ted Hopf, “The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory,”
International Security, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Summer 1998), pp. 171-200. Available here:
http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/courses/PoliticalScience/661B1/documents/TedHopfPromis
eofConstructivisminIRTheory.pdf
PART II: The Context of National Security
September 24: Who’s Who in IR and the Conflict Spectrum
Readings:
1. Sarkesian , Chapter 2, “Who’s who in the International System”
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 3, “The Conflict Spectrum”
October 1: Nuclear Weapons, Arms Control, and the US Political System
Readings:
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1. Sarkesian, Chapter 4, “National Security, Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control”
2. Bee Powerpoint, “The New Geopolitics of Nuclear Weapons” (Blackboard Doc #3)
3. Sarkesian, Chapter 5, “The U.S. Political System”
October 8 MIDTERM EXAM (Need bluebook and green scantron)
October 15: Surprise and the American Security Experience
Reading:
1. John Lewis Gaddis, Surprise and the American Security Experience, pp. 1-118.
Part III: The National Security Establishment
October 22: The President, the Policy Triad and the National Security Council
Readings:
1. The National Security Act of 1947: Access summary here:
http://www.texascollaborative.org/SilverblattModule/act2-1.php
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 6, “The President and the Presidency,”
3. Sarkesian, Chapter 7, “The Policy Triad and the National Security Council”
October 29: The Military and Intelligence Establishments
Readings:
1. Sarkesian, Chapter 8, “The Military Establishment”
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 9, “The Intelligence Establishment”
THREE-PAGE MEMO DUE
November 5: The Policy Process, President, and Congress
Readings:
1. Sarkesian, Chapter 10, “The Policy Process”
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 11, “The President and Congress”
November 12: Empowering The People, Civil-Military Relations
Readings:
1. Sarkesian, Chapter 12, “Empowering the People”
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 13, “Civil-Military Relations”
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Part IV: Policy Making, Longer Range Issues, and Making the System Work
November 19: The Future of the War against Terrorism
Readings:
1. David Rapoport, The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism (Blackboard Document #4)
2. Al Qaeda in 2014, in Truman Security Briefing Book, found online here:
http://briefingbook.trumanproject.org/issues/al-qaeda-in-2014/
TWO PAGE MEMO DUE
November 26: NO CLASS, HAPPY THANKSGIVING
December 3: THE FUTURE OF NATO
Reading:
1. Ronald Bee, “National Serenity Instead of National Security?: An American View on the
Future of NATO,” in Colette Mazzucelli and Ronald Bee, eds., Mapping Transatlantic
Relations: German-American Relations in a Global World, eVolume, Robert Bosch
Foundation, Stuttgart, October 2014. (Blackboard Document #5)
December 10: Long-Range Issues and Making the System Work
Readings:
1. Sarkesian, Chapter 14, “Long-Range Issues in National Security”
2. Sarkesian, Chapter 15, “Making the System Work”
December 17: FINAL EXAM 4:00-6:00pm
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