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National Security Affairs Department

The National Security Affairs (NSA) department at U.S. Naval War College (NWC) is one of the nation's largest and most vibrant graduate teaching departments in the interdisciplinary field of national and international security studies. We provide professional education to mid- and senior-career students who are military and civilian national security professionals from the United States and more than 60 partner countries.

Chair, National Security Affairs Department

(401) 841-3540
841-3540

Graduate-Level Security Studies

The NSA department is one of three core departments at NWC and offers two courses that lead to the master's degree: national security decision making (NSDM) for senior-ranking students and theater security decision making (TSDM) for mid-ranking students. These eight-credit hour courses provide a broad interdisciplinary foundation in contemporary security studies including international relations, regional studies, foreign policy analysis and decision making.

National Security Decision Making Course

National Security Decision Making (NSDM) is designed to engage senior-rank students in the current and future complexities of a rapidly evolving national and international security environment. The course offers a broad interdisciplinary curriculum in contemporary security studies that encompasses a diverse spectrum of global and regional issues and perspectives, but with particular emphasis on U.S. decision making challenges and processes at the national strategic level.

NSDM Capstone Final Exercise (FX)

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National Security Affairs SLC Syllabus Cover

The NSDM course integrates concepts drawn from a number of disciplines including international relations, area studies, foreign policy analysis, leadership studies, and cognate fields. The course is designed to broaden strategic perspective while fostering critical thinking and analytic skills that will have lasting professional relevance long into the future.

More on NSDMNSDM Syllabus

Theater Security Decision Making Course

Theater Security Decision Making (TSDM) is designed to engage intermediate-rank students in the complexities of today's national and international security environment with a strong emphasis on regional security issues. The course offers a broad interdisciplinary curriculum in contemporary security studies that encompasses a diverse spectrum of regional and global issues and perspectives, but with particular emphasis on U.S. decision making challenges and processes at the theater-strategic level of the geographic combatant commands.

TSDM Capstone Final Exercise (FX)

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National Security Affairs ILC Syllabus Cover

The TSDM course integrates concepts drawn from a number of disciplines including area studies, comparative politics, international relations, foreign policy analysis, decision making, management studies, and cognitive fields. The course is designed to develop strategic perspective while fostering critical thinking and analytical skills that that will have lasting professional relevance long into the future.

More on TSDMTSDM Syllabus

Our Faculty

The department is first and foremost a teaching department where scholars and national security practitioners follow a curriculum that combines academic rigor with policy relevance. To further this, faculty participate in scholarly, policy and professional activities to ensure students have a learning experience that meets the needs of the Navy and the intent of the Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) system.

Here are recent selections of NSA faculty contributions to the broader national and international security discourse.

Faculty Books

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Faculty Articles

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Select Conferences (Organized and Chaired since 2016)

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Select Keynote Addresses and Testimony (Since 2017)

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See National Security Affairs Faculty

Faculty expertise spans multiple fields. To learn more, please use the link below to access the online directory.

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Featured Faculty

Faculty Directory
Nikolas K Gvosdev Profile Image

Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Professor | National Security Affairs

Nikolas K. Gvosdev is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and holder of the Captain Jerome E. Levy Chair in economic geography and national security. He holds non-residential fellowships with the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He is a member of the Loisach Group, a collaboration between the Munich Security Conference and the Marshall Center that works to enhance U.S. and Germany’s security partnership. He is a contributing editor for The National Interest. He has taught at Baylor, Georgetown, George Washington, Harvard Extension and Brown universities.

Publications by this Professor
Andrea H Cameron Profile Image

Andrea H. Cameron

Military Professor | National Security Affairs

Cmdr. Andrea H. Cameron, U.S. Navy, is a permanent military professor teaching policy analysis in the National Security Affairs Department and the founding director of the Climate and Human Security Studies Group. Her academic interests explore non-traditional and transnational security threats and their impact on U.S. strategic, national security and economic interests. These research interests include climate change and security, climate and energy policy, human security topics and civil-military coordination during humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.

Publications by this Professor

Featured Articles

All Featured Articles

Whose Deaths Deserve to be Honored?

James Joyner and Pauline Shanks Kaurin War on the Rocks

Iranian Gunboat Harassment and the Rules of Engagement

Durward Elton Johnson and Michael N. Schmitt Just Security

Blurred Lines: Gray Zone Conflict, Hybrid War, and the American Confusion About War and Peace

Donald Stoker and Craig Whiteside Naval War College Review