国家安全研究

Our unique National Security Studies MA enables participants to develop
an in-depth understanding of UK and international national security
practices. The course brings together security policy practitioners from
the public and private sectors with postgraduate students interested in
policy.  Discussions focus on cross-governmental responses to security
challenges related to key themes including strategy, resilience, cyber
security, counter-terrorism, defence and foreign policy, and ethics and
oversight in national security policy making. Participants will be given
the opportunity to consider the subject from theoretical and practical
policy perspectives before applying these lenses to some of the most
pressing global issues in security policy. through case studies and
coursework.

The UK Government’s structures and mechanisms for cross-government and
whole-of-system working in the national security field have evolved
significantly since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The
programme’s core module adopts a staged, thematic approach by addressing
issues of structure, processes, tools, and application (case studies)
to provide the basis for understanding the contemporary practice of
national security strategy in many countries.

First, students are provided with an introduction to the historical,
conceptual and practical dimensions of the UK’s development of a
comprehensive ‘national security approach’. Students become acquainted
with the structures of national security by studying aspects of the
national security architecture ranging from National Security Councils
to strategic reviews, such as the recent UK Integrated Review of
Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. Participants will
learn about why and how international governments must coordinate their
national security activities even more coherently and effectively to
better deliver cross-government and whole-of-system government outcomes,
to address an ever growing range of security threats and a constantly
changing international landscape.

Second, students learn about various processes of national security,
including defence strategy, counter-terrorism, risk management,
intelligence and oversight. Participants examine the effectiveness of
these processes: how successful have the security agencies of national
governments been in tackling terrorism? What are the factors that
undermine the relationship between intelligence assessment and policy?
Is the UK’s National Risk Register (NRR) fit for purpose? Participants
are empowered to think through these critical puzzles in the pursuit of
national security.

Third, students are introduced to a range of tools of national security,
examining instruments such as sanctions, energy security, critical
infrastructure, science and technology, and the role of the private
sector. Participants develop a practical understanding of the challenges
and opportunities for the instrumentalisation of national security,
including whether there are any functions or sub-sectors of national
security strategy that are so sensitive that they should never be
conducted by the private sector, assessing the impact of unilateral
sanctions on target states, evaluating the effectiveness of nuclear
deterrence, and appraising the extent to which foreign investment in
critical national infrastructure constitutes a national security issue.

Finally, whilst an international and comparative approach is imbued
across the programme, the final weeks of the course focus on an in-depth
application of the themes studied on the course to case studies of
different sizes, constitutions and political systems, including examples
such as the U.S., China, Russia, India, Finland and Afghanistan.
Participants learn to apply their knowledge to case studies. This
comparative approach develops a more holistic understanding of how
different states - with differing resources, public administration and
economic systems - might safeguard their autonomy, build resilience and
project influence.

Altogether, the programme informs students about key national security
themes, enabling them to critically analyse current and future
developments in the field. Delivered by a team of academic experts with a
background in security policy research and practice, it complements
teaching with a series of guest presentations from former ministers and
officials, MPs, and leading national security experts from around the
world. The course will be adapted to incorporate current issues and
events, but past cohorts have heard from former National Security
Advisers, Intelligence Co-ordinators, senior defence officials, and
more. Speakers on the course have included Professor Kori Schake,
(former Deputy Head of the US State Department’s Policy Planning Staff
and Director for Defense Strategy and Requirements in the National
Security Council), Lord Peter Ricketts, GCMG, GCVO (formerly the first
UK National Security Advisor), and Sir David Omand (formerly the first
UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator and Director of the Government
Communications Headquarters).

Another key focus of the programme is to develop practical and
transferable skills, including critical thinking, systematic approaches,
policy analysis, and a greater understanding of international
approaches and systems. Participants have gone on to work for NGOs, the
FCO, the MOD, the Home Office, NATO, the UN or pursue careers in
journalism, finance, academia, the diplomatic services, the armed forces
and more. Recent posts held by our alumni include Threat Analyst,
Director of Political Violence Forecasting, Research Advisor at NATO
Defence College, and Research Analyst in the civil service.

Classes are taught via a combination of weekly lectures and seminars.
Lectures provide students with a concise and accessible introduction to
the material covered in the module, as well as the opportunity to
interact with the academic teaching staff and guest lecturers. Seminars
provide students with opportunities to explore selected topics in more
depth, in smaller groups, and under the guidance of a seminar lead.
Several seminars will be used to pursue Problem-Based Learning
scenarios, in which students collaborate in small syndicate groups to
prepare a presentation for their wider seminar groups on subjects such
as Intelligence and Oversight in different countries, and contemporary
debates on American foreign policy. The first term culminates in a
counter-terrorism simulation, led by a Visiting Professor from the
National Security community, whilst the second term culminates in The
King’s National Security Breifing - oral policy presentations in which
each student pitches an idea to address a national security problem to a
panel of distinguished policy practitioners. In previous years, these
panels have included experts such as Sir Laurie Bristow KCMG (UK
Ambassador to Afghanistan), Shashank Joshi (the Economist's defence
editor), and Dr Camino Kavanagh (a member of the UN advisory support
team to the Chairs of two UN negotiating processes relating to cyber/ICT
and international security).

Over the course of twenty weeks, participants will hear a range of
perspectives on the strategic and operational aspects of national
security and decision-making. In so doing, the MA programme in National
Security Studies enables participants to understand and engage in
contemporary debates about what constitutes an effective national
security strategy and how it can be delivered.