The core focus of this course is the ‘threat board’ facing Australia’s national security policy planners in the context of a changing regional and global strategic environment. The course draws on established scholarship on ‘traditional’ security challenges, as well as new and emerging ‘black swan’ events that will require swift action from the national security community to protect Australian interests. Students taking this course will gain an understanding of both conceptual and applied knowledge, as well as key debates on how to situate Australian national security policy in an uncertain order. As a result they will develop the ability to make informed policy-focused evaluations of the subject matter.

 

To achieve this the course begins with a focus on concepts and methods in evaluating current and potential future security challenges. We move to consider ‘traditional’ challenges associated with changing power dynamics. The course then turns to evaluate ‘intermestic’ threats that operate transnationally, between and within states. Finally, we evaluate how Australia might respond to future black swan events such as natural disasters, mass migration, public health emergencies and interstate conflict. The course involves analysis of some of the most pressing and controversial concerns facing Australian national security thinking, and will integrate perspectives from experienced Australian policy practitioners. This will assist students to develop their learning through scenario exercises around plausible future crises.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Understand concepts related to Australia’s strategic environment, with the ability to critically analyse them in a national security context
2. Evaluate contemporary local, regional, and global challenges relating to current and future security challenges facing Australian policymakers
3. Critically analyse the responsiveness of security agencies to the security challenges Australia faces today, as a potential guide to its future security resilience
4. Conduct independent research that demonstrates scholarly and practitioner-focused engagement with the subject matter, developing ideas and analysis for both audiences.