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Institute for Politics and Strategy Graduate Course Offerings

2021-2022 Courses

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84-600 Security War Game: Great Power Competition, Non-State Actors, and Human Rights

This course is a seven-week national security simulation in which students will have an assigned role as a state or non-state actor and work with teams to develop policy responses to a security crisis that changes and develops over time, in response to team moves and other…

84-605 The Future of Warfare

Warfare is constantly evolving. In the contemporary conflict environment, irregular actors and tactics are prominent within an overarching context of great-power strategic competition that is in many ways reminiscent of the Cold War. Hybrid actors and proxy groups wage war…

84-606 Latin American Politics

The world's most unequal region is an area of contrasts. Ethnically diverse, stable and tumultuous, young and old, urban and rural, learned and illiterate, prosperous and poor, independent yet dependent. The social and material disparities that have characterized the…

84-608 Political Economy of Latin America

For most of its history, Latin America has been home to political and economic experiments. Revolutions, coups, military dictatorships, democratic and authoritarian regimes have coexisted with dramatic oscillations on economic policies regarding the size and functions of…

84-610 International Political Economy

This course explores how political institutions, processes, and actors influence economic interactions both domestically and internationally. During the semester, we will address two key questions: 1) How do governments collaborate to regulate, and stabilize, the…

84-612 Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa

The spread and growth of terrorism on the continent of Africa has increased substantially over the last decade; this mini is an introduction to the major terrorism groups that operate in sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the course, we will examine the nexus of the terrorist…

84-618 Politics of Developing Nations

Be it on our feet, in our grocery bags, or in the news, our daily lives connect us to people in the developing world. Despite such an intricate relationship, we tend to know very little about developing nations and their challenges beyond a common stereotype of poverty.…

84-620 Global Perspectives on International Affairs

International Relations as a field of study is, ironically enough, not very international. Having originated in the United Kingdom and United States in the early 20th century, it still draws mostly from American and European experiences and philosophies, and focuses…

84-622 Nonviolent Conflict and Revolution

How can everyday people promote justice, equality, and democracy? Throughout history, many have looked to armed struggle and revolutionary violence. But over the course of the last century, nonviolent "people power" movements -- from Gandhi's salt march to the Arab Spring…

84-623 War and Peace in the Contemporary Middle East

This course examines the drivers and a of war and peace in the contemporary Middle East. It is structured around a series of key debates about different facets of conflict and violence in the region, such as the causes of rebellion, the reasons resistance groups use…

84-624 The Future of Democracy

After the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama famously argued that humanity had reached the "end of history" insofar as liberal democracy had become the last viable form of government. Yet today, illiberal democracies and dictatorships persist, the world has witnessed the return of…

84-625 Contemporary American Foreign Policy

This course provides a survey of American foreign policy since World War I as a means of explaining why American foreign policy looks the way it does today. We will cover topics such as America's perennial battles between isolationism and internationalism, the creation of…

84-627 Repression and Control in Dictatorships

How do dictatorships exert physical and social control over their populations through state coercion? What tools and institutions do they use, and what makes dictatorships' use of coercion distinct from that of democracies? Why is so much of the population complicit in…

84-652 Representation and Voting Rights

What does it mean to be represented? Who is represented, who is not? What is the nature of that representation? In practice, does the norms of representation result in policy congruence? In this course, we will explore the concept of representation, what it means in…

84-662 Diplomacy and Statecraft

Diplomacy and statecraft are the driving forces behind foreign policy and international politics. In the first part of the course, students are introduced to the concepts, theories, and history of diplomacy. Students examine key cases and political leaders and women in…

84-664 Comparative Presidential Behavior: Leadership, Personality, and Decision Making

Presidents receive universal attention for good reasons. As the most powerful politicians in the 49 countries that they govern, their behavior and decisions have enormous consequences. Given the vast amounts of energy dedicated to understanding presidents, one would expect…

84-665 The Politics of Fake News and Misinformation

This course analyzes the drivers and dynamics of fake news and misinformation in social and political life. From conspiracy theories about COVID and climate change to misinformation about political violence and conflict, how can we characterize fake news and misinformation…

84-669 Decision Science for International Relations

Decision Science looks at choices from three interrelated perspectives: analysis, characterizing decision makers' options, in terms of expected effects on outcomes that they value; description, characterizing decision makers' beliefs and preferences; and interventions,…

84-670 Global Nuclear Politics

The taming of the atom is one of the defining features of the modern era. The awesome creative and destructive potential of nuclear energy has had enormous impact on great power politics, the environment, economic development, and international institutions. Limiting the…

84-672 Space and National Security

Space systems contribute a great deal to America's security, prosperity, and quality of life. This course examines how space-based services provide critical support to military and intelligence operations and contribute to national security more broadly. The course is…

84-673 Emerging Technologies and the Law

This course provides a forum for students to consider the relationship between key emerging technologies and the law. In the first half of the course, each session will be dedicated to discussing the legal implications of a particular emerging technology, including…

84-680 US Grand Strategy

What role should the United States play in the world? Should the US solely protect its own borders or advance democracy, promote human rights, and contain aggressive countries? These are questions that Americans have wrestled with throughout modern US history. In this…

84-686 The Privatization of Force

This course considers different forms of privatized force and security over time and across various strategic contexts, from historical mercenarism up to modern-day private military and security contractors. While going through the historical and modern material…

84-687 Technology and Policy of Cyber War

This course examines underlying and emerging technologies and policies associated with cyber war and cyber threats. The technological concepts reviewed in this course include but are not limited to the Internet, networks and sensors, and trends associated with…

84-688 Concepts of War and Cyber War

This course examines traditional theories, concepts, and practices in international relations and warfare -- conventional, unconventional, and modern -- and relates them to the emerging dynamics of cyber war. The principal concepts examined in this course reflect, have…

84-689 Terrorism and Insurgency

There are many forms of political violence but not all are created equal. Some, like terrorism, are a tactic while others, like insurgency, are a strategy. How important is it to define terrorism and insurgency? What are the differences and similarities between them? This…

84-690 Social Media, Technology, and Conflict

This course will examine the role that social media and technology have had on conflict and governance over the past decade. Interconnectedness has expanded dramatically and continues to expand, not only within coastal cities but also between them and their hinterlands,…

84-693 Legislative Decision Making: US Congress

This course analyzes decision-making by the United States Congress. The course examines legislative behavior by focusing on the way Congress is organized (institutional and constitutional structure) and the ways legislators, voters, and various other parties interact…

84-701 Regression Analysis for Political Science

Regression Analysis for Political Science I (RAPS I) will teach students to conduct bivariate and multivariate linear regression models. Students will learn about analysis of variance, parameter estimation, hypothesis testing, interpretation of estimates, model fit, models…

84-702 Regression Analysis for Political Science II

By the end of RAPS II, students will be able to evaluate critically most studies that use statistical tools in political science research, and be able to design and carry out original research applying quantitative methods. Among other topics, we will examine the…

84-710 Thesis Proposal Tutorial

The aim of this course is twofold. First, to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of what entails to produce the master's thesis. Students will read, think, and discuss how to identify relevant and novel research questions and the content and purpose of each…

84-711 Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research

In this mini course, we will explore research techniques that focus on empirical evidence but do not require quantification of data. The aim is to provide students with methodological tools and practical experience to conduct qualitative research at a proficient level. We…

84-720 International Security Graduate Seminar

This seminar is a graduate-level introduction to the field of international security. The course focuses on issues concerning the conduct of war and military strategy, surveying both classic texts and recent works on important security policy issues. The course has three…

84-721 American Politics Graduate Seminar

This course examines prominent classical and contemporary works in the two major subfields in American politics: political institutions and political behavior. This means the seminar will address topics such as Congress, presidency, bureaucracy, and courts, but also…

84-722 Comparative Political Institutions Graduate Seminar

This course examines the foundations of the comparative analysis of political institutions, analyzes how institutions vary across countries, and explores some of the main consequences of such variation. The first section introduces the analysis of institutions, discusses…

84-725 International Organizations and International Law Graduate Seminar

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the role and function of international organizations and international law in global affairs. In this course, we will consider the historical development of the international legal system and theories and…

84-736 Emerging Challenges in National Security

This course applies leading theories, ideas, historical analyses and policy-oriented research in the examination of emerging challenges in national security.  In particular, the course addresses the following: why so many people in the United States and elsewhere…

84-750 Policy Seminar

The IRP Graduate Policy Seminar course takes a critical look at decision making in domestic politics and US foreign policy. It does so through weekly roundtable discussions with a diverse set of thought leaders. Based on intellectually significant essays that students are…

84-765 Advanced Research Methods

The purpose of the course is to prepare master's students to critically evaluate and analyze scholarly research in international relations and politics and to facilitate skills in both applied quantitative and qualitative research methods. The course surveys critical…

84-780 MITS Capstone Project I

In this required course MITS students are expected to meet at least once weekly on assigned teams to familiarize themselves with the capstone project, develop a project plan, course of action and provide timely updates to the project mentor or faculty advisor. The 6-unit…

84-791 Policy Seminar

The Institute for Politics and Strategy (IPS) Policy Forum is one key way in which IPS brings international relations and politics into the intellectual conversation at CMU. The IPS Policy Forum regularly brings diplomats, scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other…

84-792 Policy Seminar II

In the IPS Policy Seminar course, Institute for Politics and Strategy graduate students attend seminars across campus to learn how issues they cover in class are being tackled in the professional world. One such seminar, the IPS Policy Forum, regularly brings diplomats,…

84-794 Policy Seminar IV

The Institute for Politics and Strategy Policy Forum is one key way in which IPS brings international relations and politics into the intellectual conversation at CMU. The IPS Policy Forum regularly brings diplomats, scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other thought…

84-799 IRP Graduate Thesis

Master of Science in International Relations and Politics students are expected to dedicate a minimum of eighteen hours per week to work on the thesis for the duration of the semester. The student is expected to meet regularly (once per week, on average) with the thesis…
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