ASU wins federal contract to train government officials on war and strategy
May 29
Arizona State University (ASU) recently won a contract to offer a new master’s degree in war and strategy to train highly regarded military and government officials.
ASU was chosen to offer the unique degree program by the Department of Defense (DOD) itself and the program will be based out of Washington D.C. this upcoming fall.
Ryan Shaw is ASU’s managing director of strategic initiatives and senior university advisor.
“It’s not an open enrollment program at this point. The students are all either military officers or DOD civilians. They are recognized for their performance so far, but also for their potential to serve in these strategic level billets. They’re nominated by their services and then selected by the Secretary of Defense to do this one-year program of study,” Shaw said.
ASU was able to win the three-year contract due to already offering coursework in professional military education and for having a strong background in national security. Currently, ASU offers a Masters of Arts in Global Security Studies and a Masters in International Affairs and Leadership.
The university’s global partnership with Security and Defense Plus , which includes King’s College London and the University of New South Wales in Australia, also helped ASU stand out against other universities. The partnership promotes research, policy, and educational initiatives to teach students how to deal with urgent real-world challenges.
Additionally, ASU beat out Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, which is where the program originated. But, ASU had an abundance of coursework available that appealed to DOD leaders.
“The other elements of the program is a war game, (an) intensive exercise where they do these scenario-based iterations of planning for a major conflict and playing with all the variables there,” Shaw said.
What will government officials learn about in war degree program?
Officials who are enrolled in the program will take “staff rides” where they will travel and visit different battlefield sites across the world to study and understand the decisions that were made during a war-torn conflict.
Shaw said officials who are given the role of a war strategic advisor are tasked with advising White House government officials and may even be asked to testify before Congress.
In Shaw’s previous role as a senior advisor to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was tasked with outweighing the risks and rewards of the military’s continued engagement in Afghanistan.
“It was our obligation to frame that in as helpful a way as possible so that the elected leaders can make the right decision,” Shaw said.
Shaw said wars have been a part of the human experience since the beginning of time and unfortunately are unlikely to end anytime soon. He compared understanding war conflicts to finding a treatment or prevention for cancer.
If we hope to end war, like ending cancer, it must be studied and understood, not ignored, Shaw said.
“I think we need to take the same approach to war. We can’t wash our hands of it in a sort of moral narcissist way and say we’re not going to touch that,” Shaw said.
“We need to study the phenomenon of war in its depth and complexity, so we know how to avoid it. And then if necessary, how to prevail in it. The only moral justification for the travesty that is war – is the pursuit of a better peace on the back end.”
Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.
