Seminar: Crisis Management in Foreign Affairs
PA 5825 / Section 001 (Class Number 67839)
1.5 Credits
Spring Semester 2017
Thursday: 6:00 – 8:45 p.m.
Carlson School of Management, Room L-114
Draft: December 19, 2016
Course Summary
· This course will analyze crisis decision making in foreign policy. Students will:
o Examine the organization and structure of crisis decision-making within the U.S. national security apparatus;
o Analyze in depth four foreign policy crises: the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962); Vietnam – Tet (1968); Iraq (2006-2008) and a Current Events Crisis (2016).
o Put themselves in the position of national security leaders as part of a crisis simulation; and
o Write an analysis of a historical foreign policy crisis.
· There are four books required for this course:
o Allison, Graham T., and Zelikow, Philip D., “Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis” (2nd edition), Pearson Longman (January 1999).
o Stern, Sheldon M., “The Week the World Stood Still: Inside the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis (Stanford Nuclear Age Series)” (Paperback) Stanford University Press (January 18, 2005).
o Oberdorfer, Don, “Tet! The Turning Point in the Vietnam War,” The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
o Woodward, Bob, “The War Within,” Simon and Schuster (Paperback) (May 5, 2009).
· Other readings to be assigned.
· Grades will be based on oral participation and a written foreign policy crisis analysis.
· The course will meet every other week during the spring semester, or as modified.
· Students may take this course on an A/F or S/N or Audit basis.
Course Instructor
Steve Andreasen is a national security consultant with the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, D.C., and teaches courses on National Security Policy and Crisis Management in Foreign Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.
Andreasen served as Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council at the White House from February 1993 – January 2001. He was the principal advisor on strategic policy, nuclear arms control and missile defense to the National Security Advisor and the President. During the Bush Sr. and Reagan Administrations, Andreasen served in the State Department’s Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, dealing with a wide-range of defense policy, arms control, nuclear weapons and intelligence issues. As a Presidential Management Fellow, he served as a Special Assistant to Ambassador Paul H. Nitze in the State Department focusing on the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, and as a Foreign Policy and Defense Legislative Assistant in the office of Senator Albert Gore Jr.
During his fourteen years in government, Andreasen participated in key meetings with the President and Vice President, senior cabinet and sub-cabinet officials and in high-level negotiations with Russia and other countries. His eight-year White House tenure and central position on the NSC staff provide a unique perspective on policy making at the highest levels of government.
Andreasen received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1984 and graduated with an M.A. from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in 1986. In 2002, Andreasen was the Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s First Congressional District. His articles and opinion pieces have been published in Foreign Affairs, Survival, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, Arms Control Today, Strategic Survey, In the National Interest, the Royal United Services Institute, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, SCIENCE, The Hill and Politico. In April of 2006, he was selected by student ballot as Humphrey Institute Teacher of the Year.
Office Hours: Friday (the week of class). Schedule and room number to be provided. Also by appointment.
Course Calendar and Syllabus
I. Introduction to Crisis Management / Cuban Missile Crisis (Weeks 1 and 2)
· Week 1: January 19
o Course Structure and Content:
· Course segments
· Crisis simulation
· Individual project
o Discussion: Crisis Decision Making
o In Class Movie: Cuban Missile Crisis TBD
· Readings:
o Allison, Graham T., and Zelikow, Philip D., “Essence of Decision.”
· Week 2: February 2
o Cuba: Discussion and Analysis
· Readings:
o McNamara, Robert, “Forty Years After 13 Days,” Arms Control Today, November 2002. Available at: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_11/cubanmissile.asp
o Stern, Sheldon M., “The Week the World Stood Still”
II. Vietnam: Tet (1968) (Weeks 3 and 4)
· Week 3: February 16
o In Class Movie: TBD
· Week 4: March 2
o Vietnam – Tet: Discussion and Analysis
· Readings:
o Oberdorfer, Don, “Tet!”
III. Iraq (2006-2008) (Weeks 5 and 6)
· Week 5: March 23
o In Class Movie: TBD
· Week 6: April 6
o Iraq: 2006-2008: Discussion and Analysis
· Readings:
o Woodward, Bob, “The War Within.”
IV. Current Events Crisis (Weeks 7 and 8)
· Week 7: April 20
o In Class Movie: TBD
· Week 8: May 4
o Current Events Crisis: Discussion and Analysis
· Readings:
o To Be Determined.
V. Crisis Simulation (Week 9)
· Week 9: May 11
o Final Exam: Crisis Simulation
End
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