How to teach a contemporary course on National Security

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How to teach a contemporary course on National
Security ?

• AFP Resesrch Project 2007-2008
• Denitza Hinkova
• Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

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Project Overview Course Rationale

• The art of war teaches us to rely not on the
  likelihood of the enemys not coming, but on our
  own readiness to receive him not on the chance
  of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that
  we have made our position unassailable.
• Sun Tzu The Art of War
• Guiding principle in teaching the art of
  national security policy is to focus on the
  readiness of the state to respond to threats,
  on the appropriate security strategies that would
  make the state position unassailable and lead
  to sustainable democratic development with
  respect to the national interests.

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Description

• Why is national security so important in the
  contemporary world? What is the cost to be secure
  and how do the states protect their citizens,
  resources, territories? What tools do states use
  to meet the challenges of global risks?
  Solutions to these and other similar questions
  are explored within the framework of the elective
  course on National Security. It is both a
  theoretical and practical course, because in the
  seminars the students are encouraged to
  participate in group discussions, simulation
  games, case investigations and policy paper
  writing.
• The necessity to re-design the current course is
  based on significant shift from the predominantly
  lecture-based teaching to a more problem-solving,
  discussion-oriented, student-engagement approach.
  

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Project objectives

• Facilitating both sides of the teaching-learning
  process and encourage more the students reading,
  exploring, research
• Defining a more specific and practical
  orientation of the course
• Ensuring consistent content coverage
• Encouraging interactive learning process
• Improvements in the course quality and coherence
• Ongoing assessment and feedback from the
  students.

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Goals

• To introduce basic concepts, key terminology,
  theories, scholarly debates and political issues,
  that lay the background of contemporary security
  studies.
• To focus on national security policy and
  decision-making process, through the presentation
  of significant security strategies, successful
  governance practices and adequate security
  policies.
• To analyze of the security system in Bulgaria,
  discussing its various aspects and functions) and
  finally will accentuate on rational choice of
  responsible decisions, (that one day
  may become history).
• To develop students capacity to analyze
  critically the implementation of security
  strategies and policies, as well as to be able to
  propose alternative and innovative solutions to
  the security problems.

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Teaching Methodology

• Interactive teaching materials such as handouts,
  maps, visual graphs, multimedia clips, PPP to
  facilitate the teaching-learning process.
•  What do the students learn at the end of the
  course, and what kind of information and skills
  they can use in they future social life and
  professional development?, rather than What
  the students are taught?
• website of the course http//bgsecurity.wordpress
  .com, where the students may post their personal
  views, articles, research papers and etc. and
  they can exchange ideas. .
•  

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National Securityhttp//bgsecurity.wordpress.co
m/ Security is progress and withouts security
there is no progress. Robert McNamarra 

• Welcome to the blog of the Course on National
  Security!
• The idea to create this blog was driven by the
  need to enhance the information exchange and 
  improve the interactive communication with the
  students in the Course on National Security,
  lectured at the Department of Political Science
  of the Sofia University in Bulgaria.

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Assessment

• 20 - Participation in discussions, games,
  presentations and class work
• 10 - Class participation and role-play games.
  The students are expected to participate actively
  in seminar discussions and simulations.
• 10 - Presentations and case-studies. Each
  student has an option to deliver a 10-15 min.
  presentation or a case-study, thus be given the
  chance to elaborate on a certain problem and
  express his/her own ideas. Topics are announced
  and selected preliminary.
• 80 - Written exams
• 30 - 3 mid-term tests after each Part of the
  course (multiple choice tests including an essay
  question.
• 30 - Final written exam and research papers.
  There are two optional forms of the final
  written exam to write a policy-analysis paper
  or either to write a policy/strategy proposal in
  a specific area of security.

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Feedback and evaluation

• During the entire course the students are
  welcome to ask questions or receive individual
  consultations (personal or by e-mail). At the end
  of each section, the students will be given an
  evaluation form about the teaching form and
  topics covered, while ate the end of the course
  the students have to complete the final
  evaluation form.

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Structure                

• First Part of the course introduces key
  definitions and theories of security presents
  the main scholarly debates in security studies
  from the traditional realist approach of security
  to the neo-liberal approach and sets the key
  levels of analysis global, international,
  regional, national, individual. It outlines the
  main aspects (dimensions) of national security
  (political, military, economic and humanitarian)
  and discusses the contemporary challenges, risks
  and threats to security (terrorism, WMD,
  organized crime, ecological disasters).

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Sturucture ...

• Second part introduces the main actors,
  instruments, norms and powers of security, that
  organize and manage national security systems. It
  explores further the functions and rights of the
  international and governmental institutions,
  military forces and intelligence services, that
  collaborate in order to protect national
  security. This part focuses on the security
  strategy and policy through the presentation of
  several national security strategies of the
  leading global powers USA, European Union -
  Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and
  some other countries related to Bulgaria.
• Third Part applies the theoretical framework to
  the Bulgarian national security. The students
  investigate how Bulgarian national security
  legislation and policy accommodate in order to
  meet the challenges of current threats and the
  interior security problems

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Syllabus

• I Part General Aspects of National Security
• 1.      Defining the basic concepts of security.
• 2.      Theoretical framework and aspects of
  security. Analytical levels of security.
• 3.      Realist, Liberal and Neo-liberal
  approaches to security.
• 4.      National Interests and Priorities.
• 6.      Methodology for the study of national
  security.
• 7. Human security.
• 8.      Security Threats and Responses in the
  21st Century
•  
•  

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II Part Management of the National Security
System

• 1.      Structure of the Security System. Actors,
  Powers, Norms.
• 2.      Intelligence and Counter-intelligence
  Services
• 3.      Foundations of Security Policy-Making
  Process.
• 4.      General principles of security
  strategies. Ancient strategies.
• 5.      National Security Strategies. Planning,
  formulation and decision- making.
• 6.      The European Security Strategy.
• 7.      The security policy of the European
  countries UK, Germany
• 8.      The National Security Strategy of USA.
• 9.      The National Security Concept of the
  Russian Federation.
• 10.  Security policies of countries in Asia
  (China, Japan).

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III Part. Bulgarian National Security

• 1.      Framework of the Bulgarian national
  security. Military doctrine and national security
  strategy.
• 2.      Governance of Bulgarian security sector
  president, parliament, government, state
  agencies.
• 3.      Bulgarian intelligence and investigation
  services.
• 4.      Military aspects of Bulgarian security
  and defense policy.
• 5.      Economic security of Bulgaria.
• 6.      Information security of Bulgaria.
• 7.      Human security and Ecologic Policy of
  Bulgaria.
• 8.      Regional and international dimensions of
  Bulgarian security.
• 9.      Conclusion and summary.

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Seminars

• 1.     Challenges and threats to national and
  international security in the 21st century.
• 2.      National interests, goals and priorities
  in the security policy
• 3.      Intelligence and counter-intelligence.
  Simulation game on investigation.
• 4.      The intelligence services of USA,
  Russia, China, Israel, UK , France.
• 5.      Analysis European Security Strategy.
  Discussion.
• 6.   Analysis of the security policy of the
  European countries. Simulation on international
  negotiations.
• 7.    Analysis of the US National Security
  Strategy. Simulation game on solving problems for
  the US national security.
• 8.   Analysis of the National Security Concept of
  the Russian Federation. Simulation on Russian
  energy security.
• 9.      Analysis of the security policies of
  Asia-Pacific countries.
• 10.  Geopolitical analysis of Bulgarian national
  security policy.
• 11.  Defense policy and military capacities.
• 12.  Preparation of proposals for the national
  security strategy.
• 13.  Evaluation of the regional security
  environment.
• 14.  Preparation for the final test.

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Core Readings

• Buzan, B. and Wæver. Regions and Powers the
  Structure of International Security, Cambridge
  University Press, Cambridge, 2003.
• Buzan, B. People, States and Fear An agenda for
  Analysis, London Lynne Riener Publishers
• Snow, Donald M. National Security For a New Era
  Globalization and Geopolitics. New York
  Pearson Longman, 2nd Edition, 2007.
• Donald M. Snow. 2003. Cases in International
  Relations Portraits of the Future (New York
  Longman).
• Lawrence J. Korb. 2003. A New National Security
  Strategy in an Age of Terrorists, Tyrants, and
  Weapons of Mass Destruction (New York Council on
  Foreign Relations).
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Thank you for your attention !