Arizona State University will soon offer a new war and strategy degree in partnership with the U.S. government. The master’s degree will be offered to active duty military members and others selected by the U.S. Department of War.
It will focus on the intricacies of war and its goals, as well as strategies for improved international relations. Around a dozen students will begin the program this fall at ASU’s Washington, D.C. location. The studies will include seminars, traditional coursework and war games, which are strategy games intended to simulate warfare. Students assume the role of someone in power, whether that be a military commander or president, and explore how different war scenarios play out. ASU hopes to update those systems by incorporating its own data analysis technology.
Ryan Shaw, the Management Director, Strategic Initiatives & Senior University Advisor at Arizona State, joined “Arizona Horizon” to explain the degree and how it works.
The program itself has existed previously. Earlier this year, ASU was awarded the contract to this degree by the U.S. government.
The one year master’s degree program will begin this fall with a cohort of 12 students. The program also delves into things like philosophy and political theory to round out the other intricacies that are covered in the curriculum.
“In order to achieve those better outcomes, what we say is ‘a better peace’. Which is more just and more sustainable than the situation before the conflict. Which is the only morally justifiable reason to engage in a war. That requires bringing in as you say the political side of diplomacy, foreign policy, economics, religious and cultural understanding,” Shaw said.
Shaw himself is an army veteran who after his service took on a similar academic journey. This then led him to the highest levels of strategic service. Shaw added that for the program that he would like to see someone a lot like himself for this program.
