International Affairs and Leadership Courses

Please find descriptions of courses to be offered throughout the program:

IAL 501: Principles of Character-Driven Leadership, 3 credit hours

Principles of Character Driven Leadership provides the student with the core concepts of character driven leadership defined as the commitment to do the right thing, the right way for the right reasons. The course focuses on values--individual, organizational, and national--along with ethics, culminating with a clear understanding of leadership. Students will explore the “leader in me” by examining the values that they embrace and the causes that they believe in, along with understanding “the environment I lead in” and the criticality of comprehending where they lead and who they lead.

IAL 502: The Making of U.S. National Security Policy, 3 credit hours

IAL 502 explores the mechanisms through which policy is formulated and takes students through case studies to examine the realistic process of developing and implementing U.S. national security policy. IAL 502 outlines the origins and current structure of America’s national security architecture.  Using actual policy decisions, students will exercise the process of analysis, decision-making and translating into action, elements of the country’s national security agenda.  The course will also include intensive analysis of the intent and outcome of such critical policy decisions and the leadership exercised by the participating decision-makers.

IAL 503: Applied International Leadership: Case Studies, 3 credit hours

IAL 503 builds on the theoretical and practical foundation of the character-driven leadership curriculum conveyed in IAL 501. During the semester, students will engage with faculty and with each other in multiple in-depth applied leadership scenarios, examining various aspects of leadership in international settings. The semester will culminate in individual student presentations analyzing a complex international leadership challenge. Case studies and scenarios in international settings with real-world choices and dilemmas that require group decision-making and leadership in a pressure-filled, crisis situation to achieve a peaceful and successful outcome.

IAL 504: U.S. Diplomacy in Action - the Embassy Country Team, 3 credit hours

Led by a former U.S. Ambassador, students constitute a U.S. Embassy Country Team for a specific country and manage a reality-based diplomatic agenda. Students are assigned the actual roles of Embassy team members, and together with their 'Ambassador,' Students practice how U.S. foreign policy is developed and executed in the field. Through readings, case studies and insights of outside foreign policy experts and U.S. Foreign Service Officers, students are challenged to understand current bilateral policies and relations between the United States and the country assigned for the course. Students also develop new, creative programs for the future that promote U.S. interests and also improve the understanding between the people of the country and the United States. Case studies and class simulation exercises of policy making and program management help students understand good and bad character-driven decisions and leadership.

IAL 505: Key Issues in Today's Global Economy, 3 credit hours

Projects forward what the economic and business environment will offer to graduates of the IAL master's program as they enter the job market. 'Character-driven leadership' course content prepares students for success in their chosen career field. Led by a former U.S. Ambassador with extensive experience in economic and commercial diplomacy as well and private sector international business for and over 30 years. Through readings, case studies and insights of economic and business leaders, challenges students to consider not only possible future trends that offer growth and opportunities, but also economic and business developments that threaten setbacks, insecurity and failures. Case studies and class simulation exercises of policy making inform students of good and bad character-driven decisions and leadership in the business and policy world.

IAL 508: Transatlantic Relations: Does Europe Still Matter?, 3 credit hours

This course presents students with a brief review of the rich history of the development of the Atlantic Alliance since the end of World War II, the end of the Cold War, and cooperation since the tragedy of the attacks on 9/11. But most importantly, this course projects forward what direction the U.S. and Europe are moving in the future. Students are challenged to analyze and consider 'over the horizon' trends and opportunities, but also the risks of conflict and how to mitigate and solve challenges. Case studies present 'character-driven leadership' by U.S. and European leaders as they manage issues of cooperation and competition. Through readings, case studies and insights of European leaders, U.S. and European academic experts, and practitioners in government, business and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), students develop their own policy proposals.

IAL 509: Western Hemisphere: Good Neighbors, Tough Challenges, 3 credit hours

In this course, you will explore the opportunities and challenges facing the United States in its relationships with its regional neighbors, including Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The lectures, conversations with experts, readings and assignments will focus on the dynamics of Hemispheric relations in a period of rapid domestic and international change.  China in the Americas, citizen insecurity,  the impact of transnational criminal organizations, prosperity and poverty, climate change and pandemics will drive discussions about multilateral and bilateral relations.  In a series of papers, you will be expected to analyze how U.S. interests and policy choices in the region can be best articulated and advanced in response to these challenges. 

IAL 511: Human Rights and Realpolitik, 3 credit hours

Why is it that states around the world frequently 'don't do the right thing' when faced with human suffering at home and abroad? What is it about the international order that has permitted malicious tyrants and others to propagate injustice and carry out atrocity crimes, frequently against their own people? Is the world getting better or worse in preventing human rights abuses? What factors are inhibiting attainment of the aspirational goals of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights? This course aims to explore the role of states and other actors in today's international system in protecting--or not--human beings throughout the world.

IAL 560: Capstone, 3 credit hours

Offered in the Spring and Fall semesters, this course serves as the culminating experience for the Master's degree in International Affairs and Leadership. In consultation and with the approval of the instructor, students research and identify a specific international affairs leadership challenge they will present at the conclusion of the degree program. The capstone product should be a visually rich 20-minute oral presentation that shows analytical rigor and defends a tangible strategic plan for achieving impact and positive change. The oral presentation must be accompanied by written back-up material that substantiates and defends the student’s policy analysis and proposal for action.

IAL 598: The Role of Congress in US Foreign Policy: Does politics still stop “at the water’s edge?”, 3 credit hours

This course is an in-depth look at the legislative branches’ influence on the development and execution of US foreign policy. The class will study the behind the scenes, day-to-day interactions between the two branches as well as the traditional tools afforded Congress under the Constitution including the authorization/appropriations process, ratification of treaties and confirmation of nominees and how these tools are utilized in today’s hyper-partisan political environment. Students will hear from academics, former and current executive and legislative branch staff, embassies and the special interests that influence Congress’ thinking on foreign policy with coursework emphasizing the preparation of briefing memos, speeches and op-eds.

IAL 598: Diplomacy - Preventing Genocide, 3 credit hours

This course will focus on the role of diplomacy and “soft power” in preventing war crimes, atrocities, crimes against humanity and ultimately Genocide. Using the history and experience of the Holocaust and murder of six million Jewish people during World War II, the students will also examine other tragic events in the 20th and 21st century where the ultimate human rights violations were perpetrated – death of innocents. Victims of these crimes include civilians during war or civil war, i.e. military conflict or innocents as a result of hate, prejudice and persecution of minorities. Course objectives are to position students to explain US interests in preventing Genocide and violations of human rights, the international political system and laws and frameworks in place to prevent these tragedies. Students will be challenged to explain the interaction between the U.S. Government, U.S. Congress, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at both the “grass-roots” community engagement level and at the strategic level involving other governments, regional organizations and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations. Case studies and a reality-basis simulation exercise will deepen students’ skills of communication, analysis and leadership working in a group to solve an emerging problem and crisis using the diplomatic toolkit of non-military means to stop an emerging crisis before atrocities and Genocide occur.

IAL 598: Religion and Diplomacy, 3 credit hours

Religion matters – to individuals, to international governments, and to diplomacy. An oft-overlooked component of statecraft, religion has an understated influence in international affairs. Failure to understand or even acknowledge its impact on the Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic (DIME) elements of national engagement, is to do so, as renowned strategist Douglas Johnston has asserted, at our peril, or at least to our disadvantage. The purpose of this course is to prepare current and future leaders (diplomatic, military, and political) to respond to religiously-charged situations and to enable students to identify religious elements, analyze the theoretical and practical considerations of religiously challenging circumstances, and derive possible resolutions.

IAL 598: The Holocaust and WWII Today, 3 credit hours

This course will focus on the role of diplomacy and soft power in preventing war crimes, atrocities, crimes against humanity and ultimately Genocide. Using the history and experience of the Holocaust and murder of six million Jewish people during World War II, the students will also examine other tragic events in the 20th and 21st century where the ultimate human rights violations were perpetrated death of innocents. Victims of these crimes include civilians during war or civil war, i.e. military conflict or innocents as a result of hate, prejudice and persecution of minorities. Course objectives are to position students to explain US interests in preventing Genocide and violations of human rights, the international political system and laws and frameworks in place to prevent these tragedies. Students will be challenged to explain the interaction between the U.S. Government, U.S. Congress, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at both the grass-roots community engagement level and at the strategic level involving other governments, regional organizations and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations. Case studies and a reality-basis simulation exercise will deepen students' skills of communication, analysis and leadership working in a group to solve an emerging problem and crisis using the diplomatic toolkit of non-military means to stop an emerging crisis before atrocities and Genocide occur.

IAL 598: The Dark Side of Foreign Policy, 3 credit hours

The Dark Side of Foreign Policy examines the internationalization of U.S. criminal law and the role of U.S. law enforcement agencies abroad. The course will explore how the U.S. approach to investigating and prosecuting crimes such as international drug trafficking, cyber-attacks, intellectual property theft, transnational organized crime, and others, has evolved over the last century. Students will be provided an overview of U.S. criminal law and key legal concepts, such as extraterritoriality, and examine the role of U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, and ICE. The course will assess the foreign policy prerogatives that motivate this expanded role of U.S. criminal law and law enforcement agencies. Students will analyze the intersection between the internationalization of U.S. criminal law and U.S. foreign policy.

IAL 598: International Negotiations – Trust but Verify, 3 credit hours

Students will learn through and conduct reality-based exercises on how to negotiate cross-cultural international agreements. Learning blocks include how to conduct win-win negotiations, how to understand and navigate cultural differences and messaging, negotiations that promote peace through diplomacy and mediation, business and economic growth negotiations as well as negotiating global issues such as human rights. A final capstone briefing paper will challenge students to apply guidelines to actual U.S. policy diplomatic challenges and design a successful negotiation strategy.

IAL 598: The African Continent: Exploring the Complex Realities, 3 credit hours

Africa is a continent of 54 countries but in the West it is little understood. With hundreds of ethnic groups and languages, followers of most of the world’s religions, and governments ranging from weak, nascent democracies to outright dictatorships, it is a complex area that is young and rapidly growing and in the coming decade will have a significant impact on the rest of the world. Whether that impact is positive or negative will depend on how Africans and the West deal with current issues. This course will look at those issues in an effort to get a better understanding of the diversity and complexity of the African continent and its relationship with the global economy.
 
IAL 598: Diplomacy Lab: Foreign Policy Research, 3 credit hours

Under the guidance of an ASU instructor, students in this course will conduct research on a foreign policy issue requested by the U.S. Department of State and will present their findings to State Department officials toward the end of the semester. This course is offered within the framework of the State Department’s Diplomacy Lab project, a public-private partnership that enables the State Department to ‘course-source’ research related to foreign policy challenges by harnessing the efforts of students and faculty experts at colleges and universities across the United States. ASU joined the Diplomacy Lab alliance in August 2022. The research topic for this course will depend on the menu of available projects presented by the State Department. According to the State Department, Diplomacy Lab projects have encompassed a very broad range of topics, including, but not limited to, women’s economic empowerment, sustainable development, human rights, countering violent extremism, global health, and energy security.

IAL 598: Transitional Justice: Issues and Solutions, 3 credit hours

This clinical course engages students directly in research projects related to the major issues arising from transitional justice challenges in several current situations, including Ukraine, South Sudan, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Afghanistan. Students will actively engage in transitional justice research relating to accountability for the commission of atrocity crimes through international and national means, truth and reconciliation commissions, and initiatives to obtain reparations for the victims. The students' research will be tailored for submission to relevant bureaus in the U.S. State Department and various departments of the United Nations.

IAL 598: Foreign Policy and National Security Law, 3 credit hours

This foundational course focuses on the intersection of foreign policy decision-making and the federal and international laws that govern national security issues confronting the United States. Students study economic, diplomatic, and cultural sanctions and international law on armed conflict, the War Powers Act, special military authorization and counterterrorism laws, and the legality of Executive Branch actions relating to the use of force. Students prepare mock briefings for senior government officials on U.S. foreign policy issues and national security law that would inform policy-making.

IAL 598: International Treaties, 3 credit hours

IAL 598: The United Nations in the Global Arena, 3 credit hours

This course explores the role of the United Nations both as an instrument of its member states and as an influential global actor in its own right. The subject is a matter of current, open debate in the highest diplomatic circles: Is the U.N. a quaint post World World II relic that has become increasingly irrelevant in a changing geopolitical context? Or is the U.N. indispensable as the world grapples with global challenges that even the richest and most powerful countries are unable to address alone? The course will begin by parsing the multiple functions of the institution. The UN represents a set of principles codified in the UN Charter and intended to guide the international system. The UN is also a world-spanning network of peace operations, specialized agencies, and programs that seeks to deliver collective international response to the planet's most difficult challenges. Perhaps most importantly, the UN is a forum for nearly 200 sovereign states to debate and decide global issues. The class will review the UN's formative early years, as well as its evolving roles and responsibilities. Key moments of crisis, such as its inability to protect threatened civilians in the Balkans and Rwanda, will be analyzed to reveal the shortcomings of the organization as well as its commitment to corrective measures. The UN's leadership and convening role in addressing long-term global priorities such as sustainable human development and climate adaptation will be assessed. The course will explore calls for reform of the United Nations, to include reimagining the membership and prerogatives of the Security Council. Throughout the course, we will consider the perspectives of the United States, which is the largest financial contributor to the UN and wields veto power as a permanent Security Council member.

IAL 598: The Global Regime of Human Rights, 3 credit hours

This experiential course will engage students directly in research projects related to four major international treaties that the United States actively negotiated and signed but has failed to ratify or accede to while most other countries have joined the treaty regimes. The four treaties are the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Additional Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Students will research negotiating histories, Senate hearings, foreign support for the treaties, and past U.S. objections and interview key players. The students' research will culminate in recorded oral briefings and research papers setting forth strategies for the United States to accede to the treaties and which will be shared with Washington officials.

IAL 598: Leading in a Dynamic International Environment, 3 credit hours

This course presents students with the concepts, principles, methodologies, and processes essential to organizational planning and decision-making in all leadership settings. Via international case studies and other techniques, students will develop an understanding and initial ability to utilize planning principles and processes, including in the development of U.S. foreign policy. Students will be exposed to the differences between planning and decision-making as well as the essential elements of effective implementation of plans, plan assessments, and plan adjustments in order to achieve desired outcomes and promote U.S. interests abroad. Students will also discuss and analyze the importance of framing the problem; of mission analysis; the concept of operational design and design visualization; the methods to develop courses of action; the techniques to analyze, assess, and compare proposed COA's to achieve intended outcomes; and the critical nature and importance of the dimension of time in planning and decision-making.

IAL 598: Intelligence and National Security, 3 credit hours

Intelligence and the intelligence community play a critical role when it comes to shaping U.S. foreign and national security policy. The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of the different types of intelligence and explore the evolution of today's intelligence community under the auspices of the Director of National Intelligence. Using case studies, the course will examine how policymakers have used and in some cases abused intelligence to try to advance policy goals, including the importance of covert operations. Students will gain an understanding of both the significant contributions and limits of intelligence as an element of national security policymaking.

IAL 598: Intro to the Indo-Pacific: Redefining Asia, 3 credit hours

Asia is thought to have originally been named by the ancient Greeks to identify the lands to their east or alternatively from an Assyrian word, asu, meaning 'east.' Contemporary definitions of Asia shift but usually refer to that part of the global land mass east of the Urals to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean south to the equator, except for a few Southeast Asian islands. In recent years, the term Asia-Pacific has been replaced by the term Indo-Pacific in recognition of the presence of a significant percentage of traditional 'Asia' in the Indian Ocean area (including India, which is expected to overtake China in terms of population before 2050). This course is an introduction to the Indo-Pacific, which accounts for one-third of the Earth's land mass and contains more diversity than any other region on the planet, giving the student a better appreciation for the reality of the region and its impact on the rest of the globe.

IAL 598: Foreign Aid: Altruism or National Security?, 3 credit hours 

The course examines, primarily from a U.S. perspective, how foreign aid has been used for 1) humanitarian purposes; 2) to promote economic and social development; and 3) as a tool for promoting U.S. foreign policy objectives around the globe. Although the focus is the U.S. Agency for International Development and other U.S. Government (USG) agencies, the role of other international and multinational organizations will be examined including that of international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations and local communities and partners. How the U.S. and other major donors structure their foreign aid programs will be reviewed to illustrate the tension between altruistic purposes and political objectives. Reviewing the role of presidential and parliamentary priorities sheds light on how politics, including commercial and business interests, affects funding and the types of development programs undertaken. The impact of USAID¿s evolving relationship with other USG agencies and the National Security Council will also be discussed. An examination of several case studies illustrates successes and failures in balancing national security interests with humanitarian and development objectives. Throughout the course the leadership skills needed to succeed while working in the development arena will be examined.

IAL 598: Decoding China, 3 credit hours 

While China is the US¿s biggest and toughest competitor, leaders and practitioners in diplomacy, non-profit organizations and companies generally lack basic understanding about the country, the people, and the government. Starting from defining who is ¿Chinese¿, the course helps students to understand the ¿other side¿. We will start with a quick short history of modern China and the basics of the Chinese Communist Party. It will unpack terms and areas of contentions in US-China relations: Why is Taiwan important? What is the Belt and Road initiative? What is the basic contour of US-China relations since WWII? The course will discuss the Chinese government¿s economic statecraft, its military and modernization, human rights records, climate policy, and use of technology. This course, taught by a China expert with two decades of practical experience, aims to help aspiring practitioners in international relations up to speed to a basic and solid understanding of a country that is often considered difficult to understand and deal with.