NS3230 Innovation and Adaptation in the Military

This course provides an introduction to and critical examination of the role the military plays in U.S. strategic planning and national security policy formulation. The focus will be on the institutions and actors involved in strategic planning, the planning process itself, and the outputs of that process. Theory and process meet through case study and analysis of the evolution of U.S. military planning practices, including the changing roles of the Joint Staff, combatant commands and service components, joint task forces, and service staffs following passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act and post-Cold War international security developments. Prerequisites: None.

Lecture Hours

Lab Hours

Course Learning Outcomes

Build taxonomy based on interdisciplinary literature on processes of change and innovation in military organizations.
Marry that taxonomy with cases as illustrated in the course material.
Build ability to take that systematic understanding and apply it to myriad military innovation cases of today and yesterday.
Build an analytical-causal argument that unpacks your military innovation case.
Make a claim based on evidence; argumentation based on source material developed through analysis.