Does the United Nations matter? The course will offer a broad assessment and analysis of the place, performance and potential of the United Nations within the nation-state system. It will assess the world body based on a range of distinct expectations through the prism of global threats, global norms and global responsibilities. Increasingly the world is confronted with phenomena - related to both security and development - which require global responses; the question this course seeks to answer is to what extent can we rely on the UN to act as a global instrument for constructive change?

Do sanctions work? This six-week intensive course will examine the history and use of multilateral sanctions as an instrument of coercion in the restoration and maintenance of international peace and security. Students will analyze the logic behind the imposition of international sanctions, explore specific factors that enhance and impede sanctions effectiveness, including their perceived credibility, the role of monitoring and enforcement, and challenges to sanctions legitimacy. The course will emphasize practical case studies and perspectives and students will benefit from regular guest speakers who have participated in various Security Council sanctions episodes.

The objective of this course is to develop a shared understanding of the theory and practice of post-conflict peacebuilding within the context of the evolving nature of UN peace operations and as part of ongoing efforts to improve the international community's collective ability to facilitate sustainable peace processes in countries emerging from conflict. Current Security Council-mandated peace operations, the challenges and dilemmas they face will be used as case studies to help attain the above objective. Because Africa has been the most important regional setting for these peace operations and has had a critical impact in defining their limitations and possibilities, the case studies will be drawn primarily from UN peacebuilding engagement in Africa.

This six-week course will provide an analytical framework with which to understand the transformation that has characterized development thinking and practice at the United Nations over the last twenty years. It will familiarize participants with the key UN reports and resolutions that define the UN's contribution and reflect on the evolution in development cooperation in practice through the prism of one UN institution in particular, in this case the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It will also analyze current debates about the future of development cooperation and the evolving shape of multilateralism. The course will provide practical examples and draw from the extensive practical experience of the instructor.

This course examines the origins and evolution of modern terrorism, the challenges posed by terrorist groups to states and to the international system, and strategies employed to confront and combat terrorism. We assess a wide variety of terrorist organizations, and explore the psychological, socioeconomic, political, and religious causes of terrorist violence past and present. We also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of various counterterrorism strategies, from the point of view of efficacy as well as ethics, and look into ways in which the new threat of global terrorism might impact the healthy functioning of democratic states.

This course explores the unique and distinct foreign policy behavior of different states in the international system. Explanations of state behavior will be drawn from many overarching international relations frameworks including but not necessarily limited to realism, liberalism, and constructivism. The effects of power, culture, institutions and history will be examined.

This course examines the foundations, decision-making processes, and substance of American foreign policy, particularly as it has developed over the past fifty years. We explore the role of American political culture, the presidency, Congress, and the foreign policy bureaucracy in helping to determine America's relationship with other states and international organizations. We pay particular attention to the recurring tensions that run through American foreign policy: isolationism v. internationalism, security v. prosperity, diplomacy v. military power, unilateralism v. multilateralism, and realism v. idealism. Each week we will explore a broad theoretical/conceptual theme and then focus on a specific topic that exemplifies a practical application of the theme.

This course is intended to provide an understanding of two of the major components of warfare and international security since World War II. The first is special operations, defined broadly as military operations whose high risk and potential high pay-off require forces with extraordinary capabilities. The second is the major components of intelligence operations. These include human intelligence collection, signals intelligence collection, counterintelligence and interrogation, overhead reconnaissance, paramilitary operations, covert action, and intelligence analysis. It is intended to give students a broad overview of these two critically important areas, which can often be difficult to understand because of classification.

Through a review of major academic literature, lectures, and class discussion, this course examines many of the central concepts, theories, and analytical tools used in contemporary social science to understand international affairs. The theoretical literature is drawn from fields including comparative politics, international relations, political sociology, and economics. The course is designed to enhance students' abilities to think critically and analytically about current problems and challenges in international politics.