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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 departments teaching foreign policy analysis and international security. 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

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Graduate-Level Security Studies

The NSA department is one of the 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 to analyze how the U.S. government makes foreign policy decisions and the role the U.S. plays in the world.

National Security Decision Making Course

National Security Affairs SLC Syllabus Cover

National Security Decision Making (NSDM) is designed to engage senior-rank students in the complexities of U.S. foreign policy and the international security environment at the national-strategic level.

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NSDM Capstone Final Exercise (FX)

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Theater Security Decision Making Course

National Security Affairs ILC Syllabus Cover

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 U.S. decision making challenges and processes at the theater-strategic level of the geographic combatant commands.

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TSDM Capstone Final Exercise (FX)

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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.

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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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Student Publications

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Featured Faculty

Faculty Directory
Lindsay P Cohn profile Image

Lindsay P. Cohn

Associate Professor | National Security Affairs

Dr. Cohn's research and publications focus on military organizations, civil-military relations, international law of war, and foreign policy/public opinion. She has been invited to speak on civil-military relations or military manpower issues in the U.S., Germany, France, and Denmark. She has split her time between academic and policy work, and serves on the boards of the Inter-university Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, APSA's section on International Security and Arms Control, and the editorial boards of the journals Res Militaris and Armed Forces and Society.

Publications by this Professor
David Logan faculty photo

David C. Logan

Assistant Professor | National Security Affairs

David C. Logan’s research focuses on nuclear weapons, arms control, deterrence, and the U.S.-China security relationship. He teaches the international security course in theater and national security decision making. He has published in International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, Foreign Affairs, and War On the Rocks, among other venues. He has conducted research for the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at National Defense University, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the Office of Net Assessment. He has served as a Fellow with the Princeton Center for International Security Studies and a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow with the MIT Security Studies Program.

Publications by this Professor

Featured Publications

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How Afghanistan Impacts the Ukraine Crisis

James L. Cook The National Interest

Improving Interagency Integration at the Operational Level

Ross Coffey Defense Technical Information Center

Turkey's Erdogan is Playing Political Poker

Hayat Alvi The Hill