Substantive Policy Emphasis: Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption

TraCCC is pleased to announce the new Substantive Policy Emphasis in Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. The program requires 4 completed courses from the list below:

For further information please contact TraCCC at traccc@gmu.edu

Title: Transnational Crime and Corruption (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Dr. Louise Shelley, SPP Professor and TraCCC Founder and Director

Course number: PUBP710-009 (Cross-listed as ITRN 701-005)

The course will provide an overview of transnational crime and corruption and its effects on the political, economic, and social development of countries around the world. The increasing problem of transnational crime in conflict regions will be a central focus. The increasing links among crime groups, corruption and terrorism will be addressed. The diverse range of activities of transnational crime groups in both the legitimate and illegitimate economy will be analyzed.

Title: Human Smuggling and Trafficking (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Dr. Louise Shelley, SPP Professor and TraCCC Founder and Director

Course number: ITRN701-009

The course will examine the rapidly growing phenomenon of human smuggling and trafficking. It will examine the rise of these phenomena as major international policy issues. The class will address the reasons for the growth of these phenomena and their far-reaching and diverse social, political and economic consequences in countries across the globe. The class will focus on the transnational crime dimensions of the problem. The phenomenon will be examined in conflict regions, developing, diverse developed as well as transitional societies.

Title: Non-Traditional Security Threats (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Dr. Christopher Corpora, Long-term TraCCC Associate and SPP Adjunct Professor

Course number: PUBP710-006 (Cross-listed as ITRN 701)

This course will trace the major intellectual discussions and empirical facts associated with these non-traditional threats – identifying their complex relationship with traditional and new realities of global security. In this discussion the students will be introduced to several new ways to think about these issues – driving a broader policy dialog around the possibilities for transforming and managing these global threats. Students will be challenged to question
several long-held assumptions and entertain different ways to explain and address these nontraditional threats to global security and stability.

Title: International Migration, Global Governance, and the Knowledge Economy (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Dr. David Hart, TraCCC Associate and SPP Associate Professor

Course number: PUBP710-011 (cross-listed as ITRN 701-003)

This course will provide students with a general introduction to international migration and public policy in the 21st century. Within that context, we will seek a deeper understanding of how flows of people across borders shape the distribution of knowledge and its associated costs and benefits. The course will take a global perspective, striving to identify win-win solutions for sending countries, receiving countries, and the migrants themselves whenever possible, and wrestling pragmatically with the ethical, political, and social dilemmas posed when such solutions are not vailable.

Title: International Police Operations (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Angelic Young, SPP Adjunct Professor

Course number: PUBP 751

Assisting states in transition from the “rule of the gun” to “the rule of law” is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Through peacekeeping missions, coalition activities, and bilateral assistance programs, the international community grapples with how best to assist fragile or failing states with the provision of security while simultaneously fostering an environment for long term rule of law development and security sector reform. This course will challenge students to consider the real-life dilemmas facing policy-makers and rule of law practitioners. Students will analyze past successes and missteps while weighing and applying options for the future. The course draws heavily on the instructors’ practical experience.

Title: National Security Decision-making Policy (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Chris Corpora, Long-term TraCCC Associate and SPP Adjunct Professor

Course number: PUBP 755-001

This course will review the main attributes and influences that inform national security decisionmaking
– behavioral, economic, strategic, institutional and others – mapping this often complex
set of processes. We will explore the tensions found between these orientations and examine
how to identify and explain them through a mix of national security case studies and
methodological studies from and around the fields of political psychology and organizational
theory. The case studies used in this course will span from well-documented historical events
through current and developing national security issues.

Title: National Security Law & Public Policy (link to syllabus)

Instructor: Dr. Stuart Malawer, SPP Professor and TraCCC Associate

Course number: PUBP 759-001 (cross listed with ITRN 701-007)

This is an introductory course to the legal and policy issues concerning U.S. national security today. Its emphasis is on developments since 9/11. It focuses on the legal rules governing the formulation and execution of U.S. national security policy. It examines U.S. and international law as well as general domestic and foreign policy considerations. In particular, the course considers the principal cases, legislation and treaties impacting U.S. national security. Special emphasis is on the interplay of national security concerns and civil liberties in this age of global and transnational terrorism.