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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
David Burbach photo

David T. Burbach

Associate Professor | National Security Affairs

Professor Burbach teaches the politics of U.S. foreign policy, space security and international relations. His scholarly interests include civil-military relations, defense planning and the relationship between international security and technology, particularly space and nuclear policy. Before joining the Naval War College faculty in 2007, he taught at the Army's School of Advanced Military Studies and also worked for several policy analysis and information technology organizations.

Publications by this Professor
Jon-Paul N Maddaloni faculty profile

Jon-Paul N. Maddaloni

Military Professor | National Security Affairs

Col. JP Maddaloni joined the U.S. Naval War College in 2020 and teaches in the National Security Affairs Department. He is joint qualified, and his most recent joint assignment was with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command working in strategy and plans. He has commanded at the battalion level and served in various staff positions. Past operational assignments included the 4th Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division, 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade and 1st Cavalry Division. He received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy and M.A.s from the School of Advanced Military Studies, Joint Advanced Warfighting School and University of Oklahoma.

Publications by this Professor

Featured Publications

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Norms at Home, Norms Abroad: Security Force Assistance and Civil-Military Relations

Jaclyn Johnson, Christopher M. Faulkner, Salah Ben Hammou, Jonathan M. Powell Modern War Institute

Geography, Bureaucracy, and National Security: The New Map

Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Derek S. Reveron Foreign Policy Research Institute

The Iraq War and the Idea of Totalitarianism

Joseph Stieb Process