Master of Arts in Diplomacy and International Commerce - International Security and Intelligence Concentration

For fifty seven years the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce has provided an exceptional master's degree program that prepares future leaders for rewarding careers in international affairs. The Patterson School's hallmarks have been its deliberate, intimate size, its selectivity, and our focus on both diplomacy and international commerce. Patterson graduates pursue exciting careers with governments, international organizations, NGOs, think tanks, and in the private sector. Our program is notable for its passion. With a faculty dedicated to providing an unparalleled learning experience, we ensure students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively maneuver on the world stage. Our graduates seek more than just a profession; they want to make the world better. Patterson School faculty is a mix of exceptional scholars and practitioners with decades of experience in diplomacy, commerce, business, defense, development and intelligence. They know firsthand what is needed to succeed in the international arena. Our professional master's program offers concentrations/majors in four areas: diplomacy; international commerce; international organizations and development; international security and intelligence. Small Is Beautiful Size matters. The US Department of State is the smallest senior cabinet agency; White House staff, the NSC and USTR is similarly lean and select. The natural environment of diplomacy and business is intimate and personal, one-on-one or small groups. Cognoscenti understand that the most important decision making takes place in more restricted venues (think the Cabinet, the UN Security Council, or corporate boardrooms). We believe the same holds true for professional education. Keeping our program small, select, and focused (75 full-time, resident masters students total; only 35 new students admitted each year) lets us provide an exceptional level of attention, instruction, and interaction. Our focus is directly on our students, with seminars, conferences, speakers programs, exercises, simulations, and events specially crafted to develop their full potential. Activities can be done with a student cohort our size that simply are not the same or cannot even be done with 200 or 1,000 students. We are proud to measure our success by the strength of our graduates, not the strength of their number. Since the beginning of the War on Terror, career paths for Security and Intelligence graduates have expanded in number and scope. Public sector growth in the intelligence community, in the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and in an array of other agencies and workshops has created an environment where graduates trained in security and intelligence fields can thrive. At the same time, private entities engaged in political risk analysis (such as STRATFOR, the Eurasia Group, or the Economist Intelligence Unit) has expanded exponentially, offering new and exciting career paths. Students concentrating in International Security and Intelligence at Patterson develop a familiarity both with the grand debates of national security strategy and the nuts and bolts of military and bureaucratic activity. Courses probe the array of today’s global threats, their political and economic implications, and the strategies best used to address them. Students will become familiar with the intelligence cycle and the structure of global intelligence collection and analysis, and will develop an understanding of the technical systems utilized to tackle the challenges posed by state and non-state actors. They learn the ways in which intelligence contributes to policymaking and foreign policy, as well as how oversight is maintained.