This graduate degree is designed for students aspiring to pursue careers in the intelligence or counterintelligence fields and for professionals whose agencies or clientele are charged with the acquisition and interpretation of intelligence. It features courses in fundamental intelligence disciplines, such as intelligence collection, analysis and epistemology, espionage, and covert action. The graduate program equips students with all the requisite tools and knowledge necessary for professional success in these fields.
Program Requirements (52 Credits)
All courses are four credits unless noted otherwise.
Core Requirements (16 Credits)
All of the following courses are required.
- IWP 606 Ideas and Values in International Politics (2 credits)
- IWP 608 Sources of American Political Thought (2 credits)
- IWP 615 Western Moral and Political Thought (2 credits)
- IWP 627 International Relations, Statecraft and Integrated Strategy
- IWP 634 Geography and Strategy (2 credits)
- IWP 642 Economics for Foreign Policy Makers (2 credits)
- IWP 799 Capstone Course (2 credits)
Intelligence and Statecraft Requirements (20 Credits)
All of the following courses are required.
- IWP 605 Intelligence and Policy
- IWP 610 Counterintelligence in a Democratic Society
- IWP 652 Estimative Intelligence Analysis and Epistemology
- IWP 656 Intelligence Collection OR IWP 668 Espionage OR IWP 631 Foreign Propaganda, Perceptions and Policy
- IWP 681 Intelligence and the Law
Concentration Requirements (16 Credits)
Students must take at least 4 credits in each of these concentrations.
The Art of Intelligence
- IWP 632 U.S. Intelligence in the Cold War and Beyond
- IWP 640 Cultural Intelligence for Strategy and Analysis
- IWP 650 Writing for National Security Professionals (2 credits)
- IWP 662 Surprise, Warning and Deception (2 credits)
- IWP 667 Forecasting and Political Risk Analysis
- IWP 676 A Counterintelligence Challenge: The Enigmas and Benefits of Defectors
- IWP 678 Covert Action and National Security
- IWP 683 Violent Non-State Actors in Today’s Security Environment (2 credits)
- IWP 684 Nuclear Strategy and Arms Control (2 credits)
- IWP 701 Geospatial Intelligence (2 credits)
- IWP 703 The Theory and Practice of North Korea Espionage (2 credits)
- IWP 708 Female Roles in Contemporary Insurgencies & Small Armies (2 credits)
- IWP 721 The Fog of War and The Dark Days of Diplomacy (2 credits)
Counterintelligence and Foreign Intelligence
- IWP 622 Comparative Intelligence Systems: Foreign Intelligence and Security Cultures (4 credits)
- IWP 644 Soviet and Russian Intelligence and Security Services
- IWP 647 The Operations and Cases of U.S. Counterintelligence
- IWP 654 The Evolution of the CI Community
- IWP 659 Enemy Threat Doctrine of Global Jihadism
- IWP 663 Cyber Statecraft
- IWP 669 Counterterrorism and the Democracies
- IWP 683 Violent Non-State Actors in Today’s Security Environment (2 credits)
- IWP 684 Nuclear Strategy and Arms Control (2 credits)
- IWP 686 Terrorist Advocacy and Propaganda (2 credits)
- IWP 691 Cyber Strategy Development (2 credits)
- IWP 692 Cyber Terrorism and Intelligence (2 credits)
- IWP 695 American Domestic Terrorism in the Modern Era (2 credits)
- IWP 703 The Theory and Practice of North Korea Espionage (2 credits)
- IWP 708 Female Roles in Contemporary Insurgencies & Small Armies (2 credits)
- IWP 717: Turkish Foreign Policy, Intelligence, and Security Services (2 credits)
- IWP 726 Intelligence in Africa: History, Culture, and Trends (2 credits)
Additional Requirements
Candidates for this graduate degree are not required to pass a language proficiency examination, but may elect to do so in order to add an important skill to their academic credentials and marketability. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the same language training opportunities made available to candidates in the Statecraft and International Affairs degree program.
Students in this program may be enrolled full-time (9 or more credit hours per semester) or part-time (less than 9 credit hours per semester) but must complete the degree in five calendar years or less. After successful completion of all coursework, each student will be required to pass a one-hour oral examination and a three-hour written comprehensive examination.
Alumni at Work
Below is a selection of organizations where graduates of this program have worked:
- Accenture Federal Services
- AECOM
- BAE Systems, Inc.
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- CACI International Inc.
- Capitol Police
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- Ernst & Young (EY)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- General Dynamics Information Technology
- General Services Administration
- International Atomic Energy Agency
- Leidos
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- National Security Agency
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service
- Office of Naval Intelligence
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- SAIC
- Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc.
- U.S. Air Force Intelligence
- U.S. Army Intelligence
- U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
Alumni Testimonials
“IWP prepares you to have a seat at the table in the White House, the Department of Justice, CIA, Congress, and other agencies of the government.”
Aubrey Hodges (’24)
Senior Security Cooperation Consultant
“My IWP experience provided a lot of insight into how things work and how to get a job in the national security space. But – importantly – it also taught us how to ask and address moral questions that may come up during this work.”
Daniel Zygiel-Clague (’23)
Intelligence Professional
“I learned more about myself at IWP than I was expecting to. I thought I wanted to do counterterrorism, but I am now on a counterintelligence track because of IWP.”
A Member of the Class of 2019
“I was used to a tactical-level type of thinking. This program taught me to think strategically.”
Alex AhumadaPuente (’19)
“At IWP, you learn how to think like a strategist, anticipate adversaries’ intentions, and act with prudence and foresight. I have been applying my IWP education in my work every day.”
Patricia Schouker (’17)
Energy Security and Energy Transition Lead at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.
“It is one of the best educational experiences available if you are (or aspire to be) a national security professional in either a civil or military capacity. What I got from IWP continues to pay dividends in my career.”
MAJ Andrew Harris, U.S. Army (’17)
Please note: These are Andrew’s personal views and do not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Army. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or Military-themed visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
“The IWP education enables you to think at an integrated strategic level and understand the broader context of information operations, as well as the nature of our adversaries.”
Christopher Rawlins (’15)
Information Operations Planner for the U.S. Army
Please note: These are Christopher’s personal views and do not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Army. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or Military-themed visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
“I sat in on a class by Dr. Dave Thomas and found exactly what I was missing in my current graduate program: classes taught by patriot practitioners instead of academic apologists. I dropped out of the other school and applied to join IWP as soon as I could!”
C.W. Walker, (’15)
Cyber Intelligence Professional
Program Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the terms, concepts, history, and theories, related to international affairs, national security, and strategic intelligence and its role in the U.S. policy process.
- Make an informed assessment of foreign threats and opportunities as well as their impact on U.S. intelligence and counterintelligence.
- Integrate the various instruments of statecraft, with special consideration of geopolitical and economic factors, as they apply to U.S. intelligence and counterintelligence.
- Understand the legal structure on which the Intelligence Community (IC) is founded and within which it operates.
- Appreciate the principles of the American founding and the Western moral tradition as applied to U.S. intelligence and counterintelligence in the context of overall national security policy.