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Department of National Security Affairs

Website

www.nps.edu/nsa

Chairman

Maria Rasmussen, Ph.D.

Code NS, Glasgow Hall, Room 319B

(831) 656-7660, DSN 756-7660, FAX (831) 656-2949

mrasmussen@nps.edu

Donald Abenheim, Professor Emeritus (1985); Ph.D., Stanford University, 1985.

Matthew Apostol, LTC, USA, Foreign Area Officer (FAO) Chair (2024); MIPP, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, 2016.

Anne Marie Baylouny, Professor (2003); Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 2003.

Thomas C. Bruneau, Distinguished Professor Emeritus (1987); Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 1970.

Luke A. Calvert, LTC., USA, Strategy Chair (2023), M.B.A. Webster University, 2017. M.A., School of Advanced Military Studies, 2018.

Anshu Chatterjee, Lecturer (2003); Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 2003.

Anne L. Clunan, Associate Professor (2002); Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 2001.

Erik Dahl, CDR, USN (ret.), Associate Professor (2008); Ph.D., Tufts University, 2008.

Christopher Darnton, Associate Professor (2016); Ph.D., Princeton University, 2009.

David Dow, Assistant Professor (2023); Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2018. 

Ryan Gingeras, Professor (2010); Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2006.

Marana Giusti Rodriguez, Assistant Professor (2018); Ph.D., Cornell University, 2018.

Michael Glosny, Lecturer (2010); Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012.

Mohammed Hafez, Professor (2008); Ph.D., London School of Economics, 2000.

Carolyn C. Halladay, Senior Lecturer (2010); J.D. Stanford University Law School, 2002; Ph.D., University of California Santa Cruz, 1997.

Wade Lee Huntley, Senior Lecturer (2009); Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1993.

Scott E. Jasper, CAPT, USN (ret.), Senior Lecturer (2002); Ph.D, University of Reading 2018.

S. Paul Kapur, Professor (2008); Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1999.

Feroz Khan, BRIG, Pakistan Army (ret.), Lecturer (2008); M.A., School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, 1991.

Jeffrey Larsen, Adjunct Professor (2018); Ph.D., Princeton University, 1991.

Letitia Lawson, Senior Lecturer (1996); Ph.D., University of California Davis, 1995. 

Robert Edward Looney, Distinguished Professor Emeritus (1979); Ph.D., University of California Davis, 1969.

Tristan Mabry, Senior Lecturer (2009); Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2007.

Michael Malley, Lecturer (2004); Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999.

Cristiana Matei, SeniorLecturer (2010); Ph.D., King's College, University of London, 2016.

Aleksandar Matovski, Assistant Professor (2020); Ph.D., Cornell University, 2015.

Emily Meierding, Associate Professor (2016); Ph.D. University of Chicago, 2010.

Covell Meyskens, Associate Professor (2015); Ph.D, University of Chicago, 2015.

James Clay Moltz, Professor (2007); Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 1989.

Daniel Moran, Professor (1994); Ph.D., Stanford University, 1982.

Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez, Assistant Research Professor (2010); Ph.D. University of Paris VIII, 2009.

Edward Allan Olsen, Professor Emeritus (1980); Ph.D., American University, 1974.

Afshon Ostovar, Associate Professor (2016); Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2009.

Michael Owen, CAPT, USN, Information Warfare Chair/Senior Intelligence Officer (2023); M.A., Old Dominion University, 2004, M.A., Regent University, 2015.

Jessica Piombo, Associate Professor (2003); Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002.

Douglas Porch, Distinguished Professor Emeritus (1996); Ph.D., Cambridge University, 1972.

Maria Rasmussen, Associate Professor (1993); Ph.D., Yale University, 1990.

Christian Richer, CDR, USN, Assistant Professor (2025), Ph.D., Naval Postgraduate School, 2024.

James Russell, Associate Professor (2001); Ph.D., King's College, University of London, 2009.

Zachary Shore, Professor (2006); D.Phil., Oxford University, 1999.

Mikhail Tsypkin, Professor Emeritus (1987); Ph.D., Harvard University, 1985.

John Tully, CAPT, USN, Foreign Area Officer and Coalition Warfare Chair (2022); M.A., Naval Postgraduate School, 2001.

Christopher Twomey, Associate Professor (2004); Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004.

Robert Weiner, Lecturer (2007), Ph.D., University of California Berkeley, 2003.

James J. Wirtz, Professor (1990); Ph.D., Columbia University, 1989.

David Scott Yost, Distinguished Professor Emeritus (1979); Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1976.

Thomas-Durell Young, Senior Lecturer (2009), Ph.D., University of Geneva (CH), 1988.

 

Brief Overview

The Department of National Security Affairs (NSA) specializes in the study and teaching of international relations, regional politics and security, international and military history, international political economy, and United States security policy. NSA brings together a faculty comprising historians, political scientists, and economists, with students from all the U.S. armed forces, from various defense agencies, and officers and civilians from dozens of countries around the world.

Requirements for Entry

Applicants for Masters programs must have obtained a Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited academic institution. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, no more than five years old, are required for Federal Civilian applicants to Master's programs, and for all applicants to the PhD in Security Studies (Curriculum 694).  

International students whose native language, or language of prior instruction, was other than English, are required to have obtained a minimum total score of 90 on the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or a score of 560 on the written test.

Degrees

Depending on the curriculum, NSA offers a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies and a Master of Science degree in Strategy. All NSA degrees entail concentration in a particular regional or topical specialty. Specific requirements:

  1. Total required credit hours will vary between 48-80 depending on the length of a student’s program.
  2. All NSA degrees require completion of an approved sequence of graduate courses, including at least three courses that the 4000 level.
  3. Most NSA degrees require completion of a Master’s thesis. In NSA’s regional curricula, passage of a comprehensive examination, plus successful completion of a foreign language training at the Defense Language Institute, may substitute for the required thesis.

Regional Security Studies

NSA Regional Security Studies curricula meet the high standards set by the U.S. armed forces for Foreign Area Officer education. Students can enroll in one of four curricula:

  • Curriculum 681 - Middle East, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Curriculum 682 - East Asia and the Indo-Pacific
  • Curriculum 683 - Western Hemisphere
  • Curriculum 684 - Europe and Eurasia

International Security Studies

NSA offers a number of degree programs focusing on topics or problems with broad application to international security generally:

  • Curriculum 685 - Civil-Military Relations
  • Curriculum 688 - Strategic Studies [three tracks]

- Strategy and Policy

- Nuclear Command Control, and Communications

- Space Operations

  • Curriculum 691 - Homeland Security and Defense
  • Curriculum 692 - Homeland Defense and Security
  • Curriculum 693 - Combating Terrorism: Policy and Strategy

Curricular Structure

All NSA curricula share a common structure, which is designed to provide a firm foundation in the basics of security studies, along with in-depth exposure to a particular regional or topical specialty. This structure varies depending on whether or not a degree program requires a Master's Thesis.

  1. Disciplinary core courses. Security Studies is a multidisciplinary field, resting upon the study of history, international relations, and comparative politics.  NSA students are required to complete three core courses that provide a basic familiarity with these foundational fields of study. A course in writing and research methods is also required. 
  2. Curricular core courses and elective courses. All NSA curricula require students to complete a specified minimum number of graduate-level courses in their subject of concentration. These are divided between curricular core courses and curricular electives. The ratio of core and elective course varies from one curriculum to the next. In all cases, at least three courses (12 credit hours) must be at the 4000-level.
  3. General Electives. NSA degree programs usually afford some opportunity for students to take courses in subjects outside their area of specialization. Such courses are called "general" electives, and they may be chosen from among all courses offered at NPS. The number of general electives available to students in a given program will vary, depending on sponsor requirements.
  4. Thesis research. Students who are required to write a thesis must complete  a thesis proposal no later than six months prior to graduation. While writing the thesis itself they may enroll in NS0810, Thesis Research, up to three times. 
  5. Comprehensive examination. Students in NSA's regional curricula may substitute successful completion of language training at the Defense Language Institute, plus passage of a comprehensive examination in their area of study, for a Master's thesis. 
  6. Naval Intelligence Requirement. Naval Intelligence officers in NSA are required to take NS4159, Seminar on Joint Intelligence Support to Crisis Operations, in lieu of a general elective. This course does not count toward the requirement of three 4000-level courses in a student's area of concentration, unless it is specifically included among the curricular electives of a particular program.
  7. JPME. NSA students have the opportunity to complete a sequence of Naval War College courses that convey JPME Phase I Credit. This program is described elsewhere in this Catalogue. JPME courses may be taken in lieu of general electives. They may not be taken as an overload.

Additional information about NSA academic programs, including an up-to-date schedule of course offerings, can be found on the NSA web site, www.nps.edu/nsa.

 

National Security Affairs Course Descriptions

FL Courses

NS Courses

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