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Crawford School of Public Policy · ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy
This course is available for on-campus & remote (online) learning. All students participate in interactive, real-time classes. Crises are endemic to national security policymaking. The modern era is punctuated by crises emanating from the natural geopolitical and social worlds that threaten local, national and international security. This course considers this backdrop of threats alongside changing notions of ‘threat’, ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ and challenges participants to determine how leadership and policymaking can reconcile the competing imperatives of national security and the public interest in the midst of crisis. This course introduces students to this important and challenging field through: (1) exploration of definitions and theories of national security and approaches to leadership, risk assessment/mitigation, resilience and crisis management; and (2) the application of this conceptual material to empirical cases of domestic, international and transnational crises. Conceptual approaches are complemented by insights from policy practitioners with extensive experience of leadership and crisis response.
Case study on risk (800 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 5
Research Essay (3,000 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Leadership Analysis (1,500 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Policy Exercise Debrief (800 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 5
The standard workload for a 6 unit course is 130 hours including class time and independent study.
none Preliminary Reading Rosenthal, U. 2003. September 11: Public Administration and the Study of Crises and Crisis Management. Administration & Society. 35(2), 129-143. Williams, S. (2009). Rethinking the Nature of Disaster: From Failed Instruments of Learning to a Post-Social Understanding. Social Forces, 87(2), 1115—1138. Alexander, D. 2005. Towards the Development of a Standard in Emergency Planning. Disaster Prevention and Management, 14(2), 158-175. Tierney, Kathleen. "Disaster governance: social, political, and economic dimensions." Annual Review of Environment and Resources 37 (2012): 341-363. Wukich, Clayton. "Searching for resilience." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 23.4 (2013): 1013-1019. Kuhlicke, Christian. "Resilience: a capacity and a myth: findings from an in-depth case study in disaster management research." Natural hazards 67.1 (2013): 61-76. Boin, Arjen, and Allan McConnell. "Preparing for critical infrastructure breakdowns: the limits of crisis management and the need for resilience."Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 15.1 (2007): 50-59. Brechbahl , Bruce, Dynes and Johnson. "Protecting Critical Information Infrastructure: Developing Cybersecurity Policy." Information Technology for Development. 16. 1, (2010): 83-91.