Summer Programs

Focus Area: SA Research Methods

This is an applied course on big data analytics with focus on data mining. R will be the main tool for problem solving with Python as the other option. Topics will cover data visualization, exploratory analysis, association rules, classification and regression trees, deep learning (neural networks), text mining, and social network analysis. Prerequisites: General understanding and experience with statistical models, including multivariable regression models, analysis of variance, and test of hypotheses. No previous programing experience is required, and the textbook offers extended code that can be used directly or modified.

Prerequisite: Statistics for Data Analysis

Instructor: Roumen Vesselinov, In-person

Focus Areas: Europe and Eurasia; Security, Strategy, and Statecraft
 
This course examines Russian foreign and national security policy and has five goals. The first goal is to enable students to make accurate and reliable assessments of the principal actors, main drivers, and structural constraints shaping Russian foreign and national security policy. The second goal is to enable students to make accurate and reliable assessments of Russia’s important relations and key issues with major powers and regions. The third goal is to enable students to determine what policy instruments and institutional mechanisms the Russian decision-makers use to defend Russia’s national interests, to advance Moscow’s strategic objectives, and to realize the Kremlin’s policy priorities in key functional areas. The fourth goal is to enable students to evaluate the accuracy, credibility, and utility of the main Russian open sources available online in the public domain for the policy relevant research and intelligence analysis. The fifth goal is for students to develop critical thinking and writing skills so that they can produce high quality analytical products for various types of consumers, using open-source information.

Instructor: Alexandre Mansourov, In-person

Focus Areas: SA The Americas, SA Development, Climate, and Sustainability, SA Governance, Politics and Society, SA MASCI

Analyzes the political economy of energy conflict and cooperation in the Americas by function and in terms of major players. The functional component covers the politics of oil, natural gas issues, biofuels, energy infrastructure, energy organization and regulation, private and public sector participation, geopolitics and other energy topics. The major players component includes the politics of energy in Canada, Mexico, the United States, the Andean countries, Brazil, the Southern Cone and Venezuela, and also offers a global perspective on the impact of the world’s major energy producers and consumers (i.e. China, India, the Middle East countries and Russia) on the Americas.

Instructor: Liliana Paola Diaz, In-person

Focus Area: SA Asia, SA China, SA MASCI, SA Security, Strategy, and Statecraft, SA United States

Nowhere does the United States face greater long-term security and defense challenges than in Asia. This course, combining a thematic approach with weekly case studies, provides a rigorous examination of key security issues across the Indo-Pacific — from Pakistan to Japan — and their implications for U.S. interests and policy planning. Topics include the evolving Asian security order; defense challenges posed by the rise of China; trends in conventional military modernization; implications of the Sino-Indian rivalry on regional stability; emerging dynamics in Asian nuclear deterrence; and trends in security competition in the maritime, space and cyber domains. This course includes a practical focus on policy writing.

Instructor: Joshua White, In-person 

Focus Area: SA World Order, SA Core Courses

It has become rather commonplace in the study of international relations to frame the over-arching challenge to policymakers/statespersons as one of creating “world order”, and conversely, to see conflict and policy failure as evidence of world “disorder”. In this course, we will explore how scholars and practitioners, in the United States and other countries/regions, have thought about the nature of world order, both as a description of international relations at various times and places in history, and as a policy objective.

Instructor: Dipali Mukhopadhyay, In-person

Required for the Certificate in International Studies (or Theories of IR) 

Focus Areas: SA International Economics, SA Core Courses, SB Core

This course provides an introduction to the study of international trade. The first part of the course will focus on theoretical frameworks designed to understand the drivers and implications of international trade and review empirical applications of these models. The second part of the course will cover distributional consequences of trade policy instruments, arguments for trade protection, and the organization of the world trade system. Advanced topics in microeconomics, not covered in most Principles of Microeconomics courses, will be introduced. Students may not register for this course if they have not previously taken a Principles in Microeconomics course (an entry requirement for MAIR students)

Prerequisite: Principles of Microeconomics

Required for the Certificate in International Economics.

Instructor: Muhammad Husain, Virtual

Focus Areas: SA Security, Strategy, and Statecraft, SA MASCI, SA Technology and Innovation, SA United States

The US cyber apparatus is an oft-discussed but little understood instrument of US national power. This course will define the defensive and offensive cyber elements of the USG and private sector and explain the historical evolution of the terms and concepts. This will include a basic overview of the evolution of the internet, the concepts of computer network exploitation vs computer network attack, and a study of nation state and non-nation state cyber threats. This baseline understanding will then allow students to understand the economic, military, and counter-intelligence threat posed by adversary cyber actors and methods for the USG and private sector to counter these threats. Finally, with this knowledge on-hand, students will debate the efficacy of recently published National Cyber Strategy and associated policies and pending legislation.

Instructor:  Matthew Petersen, Virtual  

Focus Area: SA Development, Climate, and Sustainability

Over the last several decades, countries across the Global South have undertaken a degree of decentralization—a downward shift in political and fiscal powers to local governments. Concurrently, international development efforts increasingly emphasize the importance of community participation in local development interventions. How effective have these institutional and policy changes been in improving outcomes in local governance and development? This course examines major trends and challenges in the field of local development. It covers a range of themes, including decentralization, community driven development, state capacity, social accountability, distributive politics, and social inclusion. Geographically, the content of the course spans a diversity of countries across the Global South.

Instructor: Adam Auerbach, Virtual

Focus Area: SA Research Methods, SA Core Courses

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to econometrics. Develops tools for estimating functional relationships and critically reading empirical studies that use different econometric techniques; presents assumptions of multivariate regression and discusses the most common econometric problems and the potential consequences and remedies; and discusses omitted variables, sample selection, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, multicollinearity and use of discrete variables. Introduces students to instrumental variable technique. Uses statistical software in applied exercises.

Prerequisite: Statistics for Data Analysis

Instructor: John Harrington, Online

Focus Areas: SA International Economics and Finance, SA Development, Climate, and Sustainability

This course is designed to familiarize students with the key economic challenges facing developing countries. It will combine theoretical with empirical analysis and use specific examples from the developing world to deepen understanding of the drivers of economic development and the obstacles that stand in their way. This is an introductory course, without prerequisites, and is appropriate for students without prior course work in development.

Instructor: Vikram Nehru, Online

Focus Area: SA China, SA MASCI

This course is designed to provide an overview of the development of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 to the present, and to enable students to analyze Chinese military capabilities, evaluate the ongoing modernization of the PLA, and assess the implications for regional and global security. The course will build a framework for analyzing Chinese military and security developments by focusing on a number of theoretical and practical issues, including issues such as the problems of assessing foreign military transformation in peacetime; the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to assessing the capabilities of the PLA (such as by tracking progress in PLA capabilities over time, comparing contemporary PLA capabilities with those of the U.S. military, and evaluating the PLA’s ability to perform its missions); key events in the history of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), primarily since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949; modernization of China’s military hardware including conventional ground, air, and naval forces, nuclear and conventional missile forces, and space and counter-space capabilities;and the implications of China’s expanding national security interests for the future missions and capabilities of the Chinese military.

Instructor: Michael S. Chase, Online

Focus Area: SA Development, Climate, and Sustainability

The world of energy and environment is going through a fundamental transition. The global geopolitics of the energy transition are increasingly about major conflicts related to climate change, fossil fuels, and the new energy economy. This course introduces students to the fundamentals of this global transition. It covers a wide range of topics from the functioning of electricity markets to the challenge of climate policy and the management of air pollution. It also introduces a host of key concepts and analytical frameworks that underpin policy analysis in the field, such as notions of collective action and the role of regulatory agencies in monopolistic markets. Students will have an opportunity to sharpen their analytical and writing skills through a series of case studies and policy memos.

Instructor: Johannes Urpelainen, Online

Focus Area: SA Governance, Politics and Society, SA Security, Strategy, and Statecraft

Politics affects risk on many levels (e.g., international, national, regional, and local), and is the result of the interaction of many different elements. In this course, we start by examining some basic issues with regard to risk analysis as well as why forecasts often fall short before examining three broad issues: country structural fragility; problems with collective action policymaking; and operational breakdowns. The first looks at how the sociopolitical and institutional dynamics of a country affects its evolution. The second looks at how the policy formulation process works and why it often yields a less than ideal result. The third looks at the challenges of implementation. As such, the class focuses more on the risks that face countries than on how particular risks might impact corporations or NGOs, though the latter is also examined. The two types of risks are related but are not identical (e.g., regulatory changes may be good for a country, but bad for a company or NGO). We conclude by examining how to prioritize and mitigate risk. Each class aims to provide students with a set of frameworks to think about and assess these issues. Students all get a chance to work on case studies to develop their skills.

Instructor: Seth Kaplan, Online