August 3, 2009

SAIS hosts program on national security, intelligence

The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at SAIS this month hosted for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence a two-week course for 40 doctoral and master’s degree candidates and recent college graduates from around the country. The session was designed to give the students an in-depth exposure to national security issues and experts, and to increase their interest in the intelligence community as a career.

The participants were selected from 704 applicants and included a police cadet and military veterans, as well as Rhodes and Marshall scholars. The group possessed extensive language capabilities, including in Urdu, Japanese, Russian and Farsi.

The focus of the course, directed by John McLaughlin and Tom Keaney of the Merrill Center, was national security and intelligence, with sessions broken down into four areas: Introduction to the Intelligence Field, Intelligence Collection and Analysis, Key International Issues Facing the United States and Intelligence’s Interaction with Policy and Military Operations.

Taught by SAIS faculty, outside speakers and intelligence community representatives, the sessions included classes in the Rome Building and visits to four intelligence agencies, Capitol Hill and the Antietam Battlefield.