National Security Studies

National Security Management

The program's flagship is a course in National Security Management (NSM). NSM develops senior executives of military, government and industry organizations to perform confidently in roles for which in-depth knowledge of national security affairs is essential. Graduates of NSM at Syracuse join a distinguished cadre of over 2,000 alumni who form a powerful network of leaders in U.S. national security affairs.

The course is geared to the needs of senior executives who are navigating the transition from enterprise leadership to the management of policy challenges at a national scale and scope. Accordingly, the class comprises mostly flag/general officers of the U.S. military, senior executive/Foreign Service civilians, and executive vice presidents in commercial enterprises. However, those at the ranks of O-6/GS-15 and their commercial equivalents may also apply.

Classroom time involves a mix of keynote addresses, case studies, lectures and practical exercises addressing a range of the most important topics that comprise a rounded primer in national security affairs. Its 60 hours of instruction are delivered over seven weeks in a hybrid format that is organized into two phases.

The spring 2025 program fee is $10,000, which covers tuition, curricular materials, housing, meals and course-related transportation. Participants will only be responsible for expenses associated with transportation to/from Syracuse University. Payment for the course is due before the first day of class.

Students will be awarded a Maxwell School Executive Education certificate upon the successful completion of the course. Those who wish to earn academic credit for participation in the NSM course may do so by completing an independent study assignment under the supervision of a Maxwell School faculty member.

Phase I

The first 20 hours are delivered online in weekly four-hour sessions over five weeks. The objective of Phase I is to instill knowledge of the building blocks of national security affairs:

• Tectonics: global trends that shape the national security landscape.
• Strategy: the theory of grand strategy and its expression in national security strategies.
• Hard Power: the military, kinetic instruments of national power.
• Soft Power: the diplomatic, economic and information instruments of power.
• Technology: how advanced technologies give impetus to the dynamics of national security.

Phase II

The 40-hour balance of the course is delivered over seven successive days in-person, on campus at Syracuse University. The objective of Phase II is to explore the application of knowledge to solving practical challenges of national security leadership and policymaking: 

• In the Arena: first-hand accounts of distinguished national security leaders.
• The Kinmen Crisis: an inter-agency crisis simulation in which students play the roles of executive branch officials and elected representatives in Congress.
• Project Minto: a study group exercise involving small groups working in collaboration with Maxwell School faculty.

The Discipline and Practice of Strategy

Developed in collaboration with the Strategic Leadership Division of the U.S. Army Staff, Discipline and Practice of Strategy (D&PS) is a short course in executive education for midcareer professionals. Those who succeed in the course will have learned the habits of mind and repertoire of actions that constitute a practical discipline of strategy.

The course is designed to give the practicing professional strategist knowledge of strategy as a specific discipline, an awareness of its application to the special class of challenges that truly warrant its exercise, and a toolkit of how to think strategically, formulate strategies, and act with strategic coherence.

The syllabus comprises 24 hours of instruction organized into eight, three-hour sessions, which include:

• An Overview of Strategy, which teaches a framework of strategy as a discipline.
• Grand Strategy, which teaches the application of strategy to advance a national purpose.
• The Erie Canal: America's First Grand Strategy, which teaches the story of this early 19th-century engineering marvel and its economic, social, and geopolitical impact.
• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, which teaches the strategic precepts of Richard Rumelt.
• Strategy Implementation, which teaches three toolkits to guide the formulation and implementation of strategies.
• Case Study, which organizes students into small groups to analyze a real-life strategic challenge and present a diagnosis and recommendation about it to a review panel.

The winter 2025 program fee is $5,000, which covers tuition, curricular materials, housing, meals and course-related transportation. Participants will only be responsible for expenses associated with transportation to/from Syracuse University. Payment for the course is due before the first day of class.

Students will be awarded a Maxwell School Executive Education certificate upon the successful completion of the course.