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.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Understand concepts related to leadership, crisis, resilience and risk.
- Evaluate historical and contemporary approaches to managing national security risks and crises, including the role of leadership.
- Apply concepts of risk and crisis management within the scholarly literature to the analysis of contemporary/future national security challenges and formulation of policy responses.
- Conduct independent research that demonstrates both scholarly and policy-focused engagement with the subject matter.
- Communicate ideas, analysis and argument for scholarly and professional audiences, with effective use of terminology related to crisis response and risk management.
Indicative Assessment
- Case study on risk (800 words) (10) [LO 1,5]
- Research Essay (3,000 words) (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Leadership Analysis (1,500 words) (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Policy Exercise Debrief (800 words) (10) [LO 1,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The standard workload for a 6 unit course is 130 hours including class time and independent study.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
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.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $4680 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $6720 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.