Overview

Included in degrees & certificates

• 738

Learning Outcomes

Overall, the core course objective is to enable students to build understanding of the dynamic role of nuclear weapons in contemporary geopolitics at a systemic level, and to appreciate the full context of ongoing debates over future policy directions both in the United States and globally.  Specifically, this includes abilities to:

·       Articulate the rationale for the development and continuing U.S. possession of nuclear weapons, and the role of nuclear deterrence in U.S. foreign policy.

·       Describe the major debates informing the evolution of U.S. strategic policy from the beginning of the nuclear age.

·       Explain current U.S. nuclear policy and how it is implemented.

·       Understand basic nuclear weapons design and weapons effects.

·       Recognize the arguments found in alternative perspectives toward nuclear weapons, including advocacy of nuclear disarmament.

·       Assess the roles and value of nuclear weapons to other current nuclear-armed states and nuclear weapons aspirants.

·       Evaluate implications of the postures of other nuclear powers for U.S. deterrence strategies.