I. Course Description:

This course is designed as a one semester survey course on national security policy since 1945. The major themes of the course will focus on U.S. security from foreign threats. To this end, we will look at impact of nuclear weapons on strategic defense doctrine, the U.S.-Russian adversarial relationship during the Cold War, the threat of counterinsurgency/revolution and the new threat of terrorism and how it is related to our defense of the United States, our allies around the world, and the achievement of peace and security in the Middle East/Islamic world.

II. Course Objectives:

     A. Content:
 
           1. To develop an understanding of nuclear
               deterrence as a doctrine of national security.
           2. To develop an understanding of how the Cold
               War began.
           3. To be able to trace the history of U.S.
               Containment Policy during the Cold War.
           4. To develop an understanding of the underlining
               issues in the Islamic world that affect U.S
               security policy.
           5. To develop a strategy to defend the U.S., our
               allies, and interests from terrorism and 
               "weapons of mass destruction" ( nuclear/
               bio-chemical weapons ).

     B. Skills: 

          1. To develop an understanding of diplomacy and
              the impact of public opinion on the foreign
              policy process.
          2. To develop critical thinking skills by analyzing
              a problem and trying to come up with alternative
              solutions to it.

III. Method of Instruction:

This course will be taught using lectures, films, case studies, simulations, discussions, and student presentations to develop the topics listed in the course outline.

IV. Course Outline:

     A. The Nature of Aggression & American Attitudes
          about war and peace.
     B. Origins of the Cold War
             1. World War II Allied Diplomacy
             2. Use of the Bomb on Japan
             3. Soviet Occupation of Eastern Europe
     C. Containment Policy
             1. Truman Doctrine
             2. Marshall Plan & NATO
             3. Fall of China & Korean War
             4. Berlin Wall & Cuban Missile Crisis
             5. Vietnam War

     D. The Middle East & U.S. Security
             1. Creation of Israel
             2. The Seven-Day War of 1967
             3. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 an the changing
                 U.S. role in the Middle East
             4. Iranian Revolution Against the Shah
             5. Iran-Iraq War & U.S. Policy in the Persian
                 Gulf
             6. Operation Desert Storm: The Persian Gulf War

     E. Terrorism Strikes the U.S. Homeland
             1. The Russian War in Afghanistan
             2. Ossma Bin Laden & the Al Qaeda Network
             3. September 11, 2001 Attack
             4. Terrorism & Weapons of Mass Destruction
                      a. Nuclear threats
                      b. Chemical threats
                      c. Bacteriological threats

     F. Disarming Iraq of Weapons of Mass Destruction