International Security

Schar School Adjunct Professor Lee Roberts is ‘Teacher of Distinction’

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 19:22:09 +0000

Schar School Adjunct Professor Lee Roberts is ‘Teacher of Distinction’ Andrew J Schappert Thu, 08/15/2024 - 15:22

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Schar School of Policy and Government adjunct professor Lee Roberts was recognized as a 2024 Teacher of Distinction by ��AV’s Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. Roberts is a U.S. Army strategic intelligence officer in his 17th year of active-duty service.

Schar School adjunct professor Lee Roberts receives his Teacher of Distinction award from E. Shelley Reid, executive director of engaged teaching at George Mason’s Stearns Center. Photo by John Boal Photography.

The Stearns Center, which promotes and develops innovation in teaching among the university’s faculty, recognizes Teachers of Distinction as those who have been finalists for Teaching Excellence Awards and are known for their commitment to teaching and teaching-related activities.

As an active practitioner in the field, it’s important to Roberts that the subject of international security—I-SEC—is taught the right way.

“First and foremost, students in the [Schar School’s] I-SEC program are talented, driven, and conscientious future—and in some cases current—practitioners whom it is my privilege to work with,” he said. “I want to do everything I can to help them clear a path into this professional field whether as a government servant or in an adjacent field such as think-tank analysis or security journalism.”

Roberts, who has been teaching at the Schar School since 2018, is assigned to the Joint Staff from the Defense Intelligence Agency and works in the Pentagon, located not far from the Schar School’s Mason Square Campus. That proximity allowed him to earn a master’s degree in international security in 2017—he was also a fellow at the Center for Security Policy Studies—and a PhD in political science in 2022.

His academic pursuits, as well as his teaching, inform his profession.

“Essentially, I direct the design and delivery of joint studies into future military intelligence capabilities that establish the requirements used by armed services, defense agencies, and the defense industry to develop and build those capabilities,” he said. “I primarily focus five to 15 years in the future, and I really love my job—it makes excellent use of the educational experience I got at the Schar School.

“By keeping a foot in both worlds, I am able to help students realize their goals, and students’ fresh perspectives and the seminar content from the classes helps me to be a better practitioner.”

While receiving the Stearns Center’s Teacher of Distinction recognition is gratifying, it’s the success of his students that Roberts finds truly rewarding.

“I have on multiple occasions run into recent alumni in the halls of U.S. government agencies implementing America's intelligence, national security, and foreign policy priorities, and I cannot adequately describe the pride I feel in having played even a small part in their journey,” he said.

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Schar School Undergrads Get a Surprise Visitor: A North Korea Defector

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 15:24:11 +0000

Schar School Undergrads Get a Surprise Visitor: A North Korea Defector Andrew J Schappert Fri, 11/10/2023 - 10:24

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North Korea defector Justin Seo: ‘There is no one message that could solve the problems of North Korea, but if the people can stay strong, perhaps positive change lies ahead.’

North Korea currently presents both direct and indirect security concerns for the U.S. and, indeed the world. Its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities pose a direct threat to specific regions, while its potential to influence other nations is strong.

Former South Korea navy captain Joshua Park is a visiting research fellow at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV. He is also an adjunct professor, teaching a course called North Korea Security (GOVT 444) that calls on his extensive military experience in conveying a robust foundational understanding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and a thorough examination of its intricate network of foreign relations. Ultimately, Park delves into the intriguing dynamics between North Korea and the broader strategic competition among nations.

On a Thursday in September, Park introduced to the class a guest speaker who provided exclusive insight to contemporary life in North Korea and its foreign relations. The speaker, Justin Seo, is a defector from North Korea, having escaped from North Korea to China with his family in 2005.

Seo vividly narrated a detailed PowerPoint presentation that illustrated the concepts they have been studying as only someone who lived there could.

Seo stated how the propaganda implemented by the North Korean government runs rampant in the news, and civilians have essentially no choice but to believe it. Additionally, most civilians are required to spend a minimum of 10 years in the military, unless their status is deemed unworthy of serving the family of supreme leader Kim Jong Un. In that case, they are likely subject to a life of abject poverty.

North Korea’s flawed education system, he said, was rife with systemic concerns unimaginable to Western thinking.

“In People’s school,” he said, “the students are told to bring valuable things to school. Students may be asked to bring aluminum, herbs, human or animal wastes, rice, firewood, and sometimes money. The teachers collect these items under the dictator’s name to condition students to be subject to the rule of the Kim family at a young age.”

Seo added that students are taught to worship the Kim Jong Un family beginning as early as kindergarten.

Not surprisingly, Seo received a large number of questions from the Schar School class, including one that made his North Korea experience personal: “If you hypothetically had the power to tell all of North Korea one message, what would you tell them?”

“I would tell them to remain aware of their situation and to stay determined,” he said. “There is no one message that could solve the problems of North Korea, but if the people can stay strong, perhaps positive change lies ahead.”

Seo also encouraged the class to share news of the systemic realities of North Korea, such as their human rights violations and a recent summit cementing relations with Russia, as much as possible. He emphasized pressuring the U.S. Congress to accept North Korean people as international refugees.

The students in Park’s class said they were thrilled to have an engaging guest as Seo.

“Being able to hear Mr. Seo describe his background was an extremely fulfilling event,” said Government and International Politics major Jake Moran. “At this moment, I felt very grateful that I decided to take North Korean Security with Professor Park. Seeing a North Korean defector speak his mind with his presentation truly made the class standout relative to the other government classes I have taken.”

“Justin Seo’s guest lecture painted a vivid picture of the hardships that North Koreans face in their everyday lives,” said government major Jim Corcoran. “After hearing his story and learning about his perspective, I feel that I can better appreciate the human costs that the regime’s systems of oppression impose on their own people.

“I feel that this class, or any class on North Korea, would be incomplete without being able to learn firsthand about what life is like for ordinary citizens.”

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Study Abroad Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border Immerses Students in Culture and Policy

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 17:32:03 +0000

Study Abroad Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border Immerses Students in Culture and Policy Andrew J Schappert Thu, 07/20/2023 - 13:32

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Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera

Michal McElwain Malur

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Schar School students, along with Professor Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera (far right), stand in front of one of the many murals at the National Autónomous University of México, the largest university in Latin America.

The tour of the U.S.-Mexico border included a visit to the Child Advocates San Antonio office.

They toured the SpaceX Starbase launch pad, visited with dignitaries from the Mexican government, joined U.S. diplomats at the embassy for briefings, experienced lectures at the National Autónomous University of México (UNAM), and heard from a variety of journalists and community leaders about the state of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Happily, it was not all academic business: They did get to stroll a scenic beach at Boca Chica. But the 15 Schar School of Policy and Government graduate and undergraduate students who made the week-long visit to the Texas border and Mexico City in late May didn’t mind the lack of down time during their study-abroad venture. The intention was to learn first-hand about the U.S.-Mexico border and the issues that keep that region of the world in global headlines.

“Mexico offers perhaps the richest international experience possible to students of public policy and government, regardless of their specific areas of interest and expertise,” said Michal McElwain Malur, director of external programs at the Schar School, who assembled the itinerary and helped lead the trip to the border. “Mexico allows students to explore some of the most consequential policy problems facing the U.S. today.” The Schar School will be offering another visit to the region during spring break 2024, she added.

“It was beneficial seeing the issues that are discussed in class play out in real life and watch the solutions on the ground,” said Kimberly Posada, a student in the Schar School’s Master of International Security program and a graduate of the school’s government and international politics undergraduate program. “It benefited me seeing the culture and being a part of it. I felt completely immersed by the experience and it’s a trip I will never forget—it’s been integral to academic experience.”

At the SpaceX Starbase.

Claire Luff, a research associate at the nonprofit Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade and a student in the international security master’s program, said she appreciated the opportunity to travel and earn three credits toward her degree while doing so.

“I was not able to study abroad in undergrad, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go abroad during my graduate studies,” said Luff. “The Schar School made it so easy to take a class that will apply towards my degree.”

While Luff was taken with “the beauty and history of Mexico City,” also memorable, she said, were “connecting with the UNAM students and hearing a lecture from Dr. Laura Carlsen about the war on drugs” from a different perspective. Carlsen is the director of the nonprofit Americas Program, a think tank studying foreign policy in Central and Latin America.

It was at UNAM that the U.S. students found themselves in the role of protagonists in a moderated exchange of ideas in an academic exercise, said Schar School professor Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a foremost expert on border issues who accompanied the tour. “It was interesting to see the students confront difficult issues, but it was a great experience for them all,” she said.

“Experiencing a new culture and understanding attitudes of people from other nations is key to getting the full picture of America's place in the world, which as someone who is pursuing international security is very important,” Luff said. “I think study abroad helps to expand critical thinking skills.”

Like Luff, Posada was also taken by Mexico City’s vibrant beauty, in all of its dimensions.

“I felt immersed by the cultural experience,” she said. The visit “helped me understand and view the Mexican perspective on security issues and enhanced my understanding of the political, cultural, and economic situation that faces Mexico today. I absolutely enjoyed my time meeting the various professors and discussing security issues with UNAM students.

“I would highly recommend study abroad opportunities to other students because of how much you get to learn outside of a classroom setting,” Posada said.

Study abroad opportunities are important to a Schar School education, no matter the level or degree program. Trips include programs in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. To learn more about the school's study abroad programs, visit this site.

Posing at the mural adorning the Central Library at the National Autónomous University of México.

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The Schar School Announces New Undergraduate Degree Program: International Security and Law

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 19:32:06 +0000

The Schar School Announces New Undergraduate Degree Program: International Security and Law Andrew J Schappert Mon, 08/15/2022 - 15:32

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Mark J. Rozell

Heba F. El-Shazli

Heba El-Shazli: ‘Organizations need people who understand the myriad threats out there and potential solutions.’

A new, one-of-a-kind undergraduate degree program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV will prepare students to help organizations and agencies assess risk and propose policy solutions to international threats based on knowledge of law and diplomacy.

Students can apply now to begin their degree in International Security and Law in fall 2023. The bachelor of arts degree program joins the Schar School’s existing undergraduate programs, Public Administration and Government and International Politics.

The new program was created to respond to the increasingly complex relationships among traditional threats such as war and nuclear proliferation, and nontraditional, including cyberattacks and forced migration crisis. The courses within the new program will provide students with the skills to identify threats to international security, understand laws which enable and inhibit methods to address these threats, and to apply methodological tools to evaluate solutions.

“Leaders around the globe need policy analysts capable of navigating a range of challenges,” said ��AV Provost and Executive Vice President Mark R. Ginsberg in describing the program. “Security threats of all kinds take on new urgency and lethality in today’s digitally connected world. Security practitioners require access to a range of innovative tools and diverse policymaking frameworks to cope with these challenges.”

“In a complex world where nations’ actions can have serious consequences to human security, organizations need people who understand the myriad threats out there and potential solutions,” said associate professor Heba El-Shazli, director of undergraduate programs at the Schar School.

In this program, she said, “students will graduate with sharp critical thinking and analysis skills and be able to contribute to the risk and security departments of private industry as well as, for example, the United Nations; international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; various security-focused research think tanks; and government contractors. We have already had prospective students contact us about pursuing this path, and our faculty are just as excited to launch this program.”

“We are gratified that in approving the program the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia agreed the world needs educated and motivated practitioners who are prepared to address the most significant challenges facing modern times,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School. “It’s telling that nearly half of prospective students we surveyed indicated they intend to continue their education at the graduate level. We believe this will be a very popular major.”

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Spoiler!: Schar School Students Prevent Escalating East China Sea Conflict

bmcclai2 — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 15:52:26 +0000

Spoiler!: Schar School Students Prevent Escalating East China Sea Conflict bmcclai2 Thu, 03/31/2022 - 11:52

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Lee Roberts

PhD candidate and Army Strategic Intelligence Officer leads the seven-hour simulation.

Disaster averted! Representatives from the U.S., China, and Japan met on March 26 in an attempt to de-escalate the intensifying crisis in the East China Sea. Failure to come to a mutually accepted agreement could have led to deadly conflict involving militaries, endangering millions of civilians.

Didn’t hear about this crisis on the news? That’s because, thankfully, it was a simulation. More than two dozen undergraduate and graduate students at ��AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government participated as diplomats, policymakers, and military leaders during a realistic exercise led by national security experts.

The real-time, seven-hour event presented high-pressure situations for immediate decision-making to avert drastic outcomes. Happily, participants were able to avoid escalating the crisis through diplomatic negotiations and deft military maneuvers.

The simulation, hosted by the Center for Security Policy Studies (CSPS) and led by PhD candidate Lee Roberts, a U.S. Army Strategic Intelligence Officer and former CSPS fellow, was the first in-person crisis simulation in more than two years. Additional simulations are planned for the near future.

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Inspired by Revolution to Study Government, She’s Now Earning a BA and Master’s Degree at the Same Time

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 16:04:42 +0000

Inspired by Revolution to Study Government, She’s Now Earning a BA and Master’s Degree at the Same Time Andrew J Schappert Mon, 12/06/2021 - 11:04

Nardine Mossad: The BAM program allows the senior to take graduate-level courses, condensing the time it takes to complete her master’s degree. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

When Nardine Mosaad was 11 years old, she witnessed the protests of the 2011 Egyptian revolution firsthand. Watching from her balcony in Cairo, her eyes stung from the gas bombs exploding in the streets. Mosaad saw young students and others taking to the streets to fight for a change. She admired their tenacity and fearlessness even when the police fought back. The experience inspired her to study how governments work.

“I saw a group of young people in Egypt topple down a 30-year-old regime and it really had a profound impact on my development,” she said. “It really impressed on me how a group of young people could have a tremendous effect on how the government could be structured.”

Mosaad, a senior at the Schar School, moved to Fairfax when she was 13, and it wasn’t long after that she learned a teacher from her school in Egypt was murdered in a church bombing. That event solidified her drive to go into government, with the intention of representing those who do not have an effective public voice. Mosaad chose the Schar School because the government and international politics program is known as one of the best in the country. For her, it was important—not to mention energizing—to know she could study at a top government school.

Enrolled in Mason’s Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) program, Mosaad is majoring in government and international politics with a concentration in international relations and a minor in French. Her accelerated master’s degree studies are in international security. The BAM program allows her to take graduate-level courses as an undergraduate, condensing the time it takes to complete her master’s degree.

“I thought, I’m just going to get my degree and leave,” she said. But when she saw “how Mason really cares about students and wants them to get involved” in issues that interest them, “that really motivated me to go out and get out of my comfort zone and talk to people.”

She immersed herself in several Schar School offerings, signing on in the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP), which provides significant research opportunities for undergraduates; joining the International Relations Policy Task Force (IRTF), which gives juniors and seniors a chance to become policy experts by researching and crafting policy recommendations; and pursuing an internship that can reinforce her studies.

Through all these available opportunities, Mosaad discovered her favorite thing about the Schar School: its diversity.

“When you listen and learn from people from all around the world, you start seeing the world from a whole different perspective,” she said.

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10 FAQs With Schar School’s A. Trevor Thrall

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:00:50 +0000

10 FAQs With Schar School’s A. Trevor Thrall Andrew J Schappert Tue, 09/28/2021 - 11:00

A. Trevor Thrall: ‘…I had no idea when I started my career that I would come to love teaching and mentoring as much as I do.’

The MIT Security Studies Program (MIT SSP) recently interviewed MIT alum and Schar School associate professor A. Trevor Thrall for the school’s alumni profile section. We reprint the interview with permission.

1) What is your MITSSP degree and your dissertation title?

Ph.D. War in the Media Age: The Government/Press Struggle from Vietnam to the Gulf

2) What is your current position/title?

In my day job I am an associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV. I am also a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute.

3) As is often the case for SSP alums, when you finished your dissertation, you had an important choice to make between a position in the policy world and an academic career. What inclined you toward the option you chose? Do you have any advice to share with current SSP students as they weigh their career choices?

I went to graduate school primarily focused on academia, but I was always interested in contributing to national security debates. The more I learned about the relevance of security studies research to policy making while at MIT, the more I thought about pursuing the policy route. Eventually, though, I realized that a big part of the reason I always loved universities is that I’m terrible at following directions and I hate having a boss. I decided that my best role was going to be as an analyst working from the outside. I actually came close to taking a couple of jobs in government later on, but have never regretted sticking to academia.

My advice to current students is not to worry too much about trying to determine a single once-and-for-all career path. They are all good choices. If you feel a strong preference for something: Go for it. If not, figure out what feels like the best next step for right now, and be confident that down the road you will have opportunities to do other things. I have been amazed at how success in one venue, whether government or academia, opens up opportunities in other venues.

4) Would you say that your experience at SSP has continued to influence your current position? What key concepts or values from SSP have served you well in your current position?

The most obvious impact SSP has had on my career was to reinforce—and to enable—my focus on policy-relevant scholarship. I grew up during the Cold War, watched my parents argue about the Vietnam War over the dinner table, and worried about whether a nuclear war would end it all during the Reagan administration. I wanted to be part of creating a safer world and my graduate training gave me the tools to do so.

5) One of the primary premises of the MIT SSP is “War is an extension of politics. Politics causes wars. Policy must be the governing force.” Can you explain how, in your experience, this has been true or false? What has been your own experience?

I first realized that politics was central to security studies when one of my best friends and I found ourselves arguing about missile defense in high school. He, an ardent Republican and a supporter of Ronald Reagan, seemed to have little time for the scientific or policy implications of the SDI program. I was flabbergasted. Most of my career has essentially been an attempt to figure out why he felt and thought the way he did. Sadly, nothing I have learned since then has convinced me that war is anything other than an extension of politics.

6) What is the part of your current position that you think allows you the most satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction and why?

The answer to this question has probably varied over time for me, but at this point the most satisfying part of my position is working with graduate students. I had no idea when I started my career that I would come to love teaching and mentoring as much as I do, but I get a ton of satisfaction building relationships with our PhD students, helping them learn the craft, and getting them launched into their careers.

7) What in your career are you most proud of and has SSP been a part of that?

I am proudest of having helped so many students at George Mason get their PhDs by serving on their dissertation committees.

8) What, outside of SSP and your work here, has been the factor that has most influenced who you are now, and what your current research interests are?

I blame my parents. My father was a doctor in the Army for seven years during the Vietnam War, serving at Walter Reed [National Military Medical Hospital]. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, my father is a fairly conservative and patriotic guy. My mother, on the other hand, was a flaming progressive, and her family would occasionally camp out at our house to make forays into D.C. to attend antiwar protests. My first political and security studies-related memories are of them talking about the war, usually disagreeing.

From my father I learned to respect the military and to realize the importance but also the destructiveness of war. From my mother I learned the importance of questioning the government and challenging easy assumptions about American power.

9) Looking back, what, if anything would you do differently?

The only thing I can say I would probably do differently would be to have spent a few years after college working instead of going right to graduate school. I could tell even back then that my older friends and colleagues were readier to handle the rigors of the process, did better communicating with faculty, and were more focused in their studies. I really enjoyed my time at MIT and in many ways was glad to have my PhD in hand relatively early, but I think I would have been even happier had I worked in D.C. for a few years first to get my bearings.

10) What is the key piece of advice that you would pass along to current SSP graduate students, or those just beginning their careers?

Life is long. It is not a race; there is no prize for “getting there” faster. Enjoy the ride. Your career will likely have many phases, so don’t be afraid to spend some time learning new things, even if it’s not obvious how they will benefit you later on. My guess is everything you learn will help create new opportunities for you down the road.

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Five key factors contributed to the Taliban’s ability to seize power in Kabul, Mason professor says

Colleen Rich — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 19:29:59 +0000

Five key factors contributed to the Taliban’s ability to seize power in Kabul, Mason professor says Colleen Rich Tue, 08/17/2021 - 15:29

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Ellen Laipson

As the government in Afghanistan collapsed and the Taliban seized power on the heels of the American exit from the country, Ellen Laipson, former vice chair of the U.S. National Intelligence Council and director of the international security program at the Schar School of Policy and Government, gave her assessment of the situation in an opinion piece for Asia Times. This tip sheet is adapted from that column.

“First is the political context, dating from the very beginning of the post-9/11 invasion,” Laipson, said. “Because the U.S. relied on the Northern Alliance to oust the Taliban from power in 2001, the old warlord system of regional militia and power centers was never dismantled.” This impeded both the creation of a more democratic system, and the establishment of a new security culture that would imbue Western-trained national-security forces with necessary power and prestige, she said.

“Second is the reality of the human capital available to create a modern security sector…. At the pivotal turning point in 2014, U.S. experts estimated that half of the recruits to the armed forces were illiterate.” Before the United States could address essential skills for the defense of Afghanistan, they had to teach reading and writing to troops, with the goal of bringing them to a third-grade vocabulary level. Before an automated payment system was established, “soldiers would routinely leave their posts after payday and walk to their villages to provide their meager pay to their families,” which would often mean they were gone for long periods before returning to training.

“Third are the shortcomings of the political system that evolved through contested elections and failures to confront corruption and mismanagement. Former president Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country on Sunday, failed to inspire Afghans,” Laipson said. Even though national leaders publicly embraced the World Bank and development theories, that was not enough to overcome the country’s socio-economic realities.

“A related fourth factor is captured in Biden’s exasperation with the Ghani administration and its military leaders: Where is the political will to fight?” Laipson said. Without the will, the equipment and training provided by the U.S. could only go so far, she said.

“And last but not least is the hubris of the outside players who believed their own rhetoric about the desire and the ability of the Afghans to emulate the models of a national, integrated military force that would be apolitical and loyal to the nation,” Laipson said.

For more, contact Communications Manager Buzz McClain at bmcclai2@gmu.edu.

About the Schar School

The Schar School of Policy and Government is one of the 10 schools and colleges of ��AV, with approximately 2,000 students, 90 full-time faculty members, and 23 degree and certificate programs offered on Mason’s campuses in Fairfax and Arlington, Va. Among the degree programs are government and international affairs, public policy, public administration, political science, international security, and international commerce and policy. The Schar School prepares undergraduate and graduate students to be leaders and managers who solve problems and advance the public good in all sectors and levels of government—in the United States and throughout the world.

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At the Schar School: Teaching Climate Change as a National Security Issue

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:20:49 +0000

At the Schar School: Teaching Climate Change as a National Security Issue Andrew J Schappert Fri, 07/30/2021 - 11:20

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Ellen Laipson

Ellen Laipson: ‘[I]t's been a gradual process of adaptation to embrace the notion that climate needs to be integrated into the field of security studies.’

It was something that no foreign adversary has been able to do: In recent weeks, not one but two domestic U.S. military bases were evacuated after coming under heavy fire. The fire was all too literal: The summer California wildfires posed threats to Camp Pendleton and Beale Air Force Base, causing hundreds of service personnel and their families to abandon their posts and flee for their lives.

What is left unsaid is the vulnerability—temporary as it may have been—in the U.S. national security strategy.

The wildfires are thought to be the result of the culmination of climate and environmental challenges. In other words, climate change and its unavoidable outcomes is not just a quality-of-life problem, but a national security question.

The issue isn’t news: In a 2015 speech to the Coast Guard Academy, President Barack Obama declared that climate change "constitutes a serious threat to global security [and] an immediate risk to our national security. Even as we meet threats like terrorism, we cannot, and we must not, ignore a peril that can affect generations."

Similarly, this isn’t news to the professors and policy experts at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University either. In the last few years, climate change has been addressed as an increasingly grave national security issue on multiple fronts, in the classroom and through informed exploration at several research centers.

Erin Sikorsky: ‘[T]he first pathway is direct risks to military and civilian infrastructure, and military readiness…’

“Within the academic community that focuses on international security, it's been a gradual process of adaptation to embrace the notion that climate needs to be integrated into the field of security studies,” said Ellen Laipson, director of the Schar School’s Master’s in International Security program. She observes that questions of war and peace, where nuclear weapons were long considered the only truly existential threat to states and societies, “are slowly ceding some space to this profound global challenge that does not fit neatly into geopolitical categories. ‘Climate and National Security’ is now an elective course, but we are likely to see more attention and more resources devoted to it in the near future.”

Adjunct professor Erin Sikorsky has been studying the relationship between climate and national security for years. As deputy director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Climate and Security, Sikorsky has mapped climate’s attack on the military.

“Domestically, the first pathway is direct risks to military and civilian infrastructure, and military readiness, as you see in California right now, with the fires and the drought,” Sikorsky said. “And we’ve had that on the Gulf Coast. There’s been billions of dollars in damage to military bases there due to hurricanes over the past few years.”

“The climate hazards we're facing, as they become more frequent and more intense, will put our military infrastructure under risk, but also our civilian infrastructure,” Sikorsky added. “Our electric grid, our distribution of water systems, all of these things were not designed for the climate changes that we're seeing—and will see in the future.

Louise Shelley

“So, they're going to be increasingly stressed, and potentially fail, as we've seen in Texas in the winter storm earlier this year. And that poses real risks for the U.S.”

Climate change and its impact on national security starts at what causes the damage to the environment. Louise Shelley, director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at the Schar School, identifies transnational crime on a massive scale as a significant culprit.

“The most important form of illicit trade contributing to climate change is illegal logging,” she said. “It’s estimated to be a $50 billion to over $150 billion business annually.”

Transnational criminal syndicates compromise climate security while also disrupting local and national economies, encouraging political and corporate corruption, and damaging entire cultures.

“Presently, 60 percent to 80 percent of the trees in the Amazon are being cut illegally, contributing to the destruction of a rainforest that is needed to absorb carbon from the air,” Shelley said. “The fate of the Amazon is repeated throughout the world as trees in rainforests and hardwood forests are cut illegally at a rapid rate to supply timber for consumer markets and provide land for food production.”

Climate hazards intersect with other strains on national security, said Sikorsky, “whether it's around COVID in the past year, whether it's around political polarization, and the disinformation environment, whether it's around economic streams and inequality and communities. When you layer climate shocks on top of that, how does that pose risks in terms of creating further instability and insecurity within communities and creating pressures on government to deliver more to local communities, particularly when they’re already strained quite a bit?”

Those are the questions Sikorsky poses to her students as she prepares the next generation to address these challenges.

“The class itself is designed to bring a climate lens to international relations and national security issues,” Sikorsky said. “A key way in which the students will be prepared to enter the workforce and understand these issues is if they can bring what I called ‘climate competence’ to whatever career they pursue. Because climate change is an issue that's going to crop up no matter what your career path is.

“Even if climate is not your main focus for your job, it will be something you need to understand and be able to bring to bear in your work. And if you can do that, I think you'll have a leg up in in this job market, frankly, because it is so important.”

Additional reporting by Buzz McClain.

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Climate Change

International Security

Schar School News July 2021

Mason Momentum

Autonomous weapons aren’t science fiction—they’re here and should be of concern, Mason expert says

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 18:02:13 +0000

Autonomous weapons aren’t science fiction—they’re here and should be of concern, Mason expert says Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 06/25/2021 - 14:02

Zak Kallenborn

A drone that autonomously attacked soldiers during a civil conflict in Libya last year raises concerns about the global use and spread of such weapons, said Zak Kallenborn, a Policy Fellow at ��AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

According to a United Nations report, the KARGU-2 attack drone contributed to the causalities in the 2020 attack, and the manufacturer, STM Defense, claims the weapon has autonomous attack capabilities aided by artificial intelligence.

Kallenborn said this could be the first time a drone has misidentified a target.

“We don’t know if the weapon was used autonomously to attack people, but we know the weapon can,” Kallenborn said, adding that verification would be difficult. “The facts we agree on make the only real question: Did one KARGU-2 operator decide to use the autonomous operation against humans?”

As a whole, Kallenborn said the incident shows the relative simplicity of autonomous weapons.

“It also shows that advocacy groups like the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots aren’t talking science fiction—the technology, and the concerns about them are here,” he said.

Due to complexities in definitions, Kallenborn said he doesn’t support a broad ban on autonomous weapons, but he added that there are serious risks associated with the technology that need to be discussed, including the best approach to limit them.

“The big question is where this technology heads next,” Kallenborn said. “What happens when multiple autonomous weapons are fused together into a massive drone swarm? What happens when autonomous weapons are given control over traditional weapons of mass destruction [such as] chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons?”

The tragedy in Libya has helped bring that conversation to the forefront.

“The massive media attention this event received is significant in its own right, even if it’s not a particularly spectacular or even clear example of autonomous weapons usage,” Kallenborn said. “However, if it galvanizes global attention to seriously discuss the risks and opportunities of autonomous weapons, that’s a major development.”

Content for this article was compiled from Kallenborn, his publications, and subsequent media interviews.

Zachary Kallenborn is a Policy Fellow at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government and an analyst in horrible ways people kill each other: weapons of mass destruction (WMD), WMD terrorism, and drone swarms. He is also a research affiliate with the Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), headquartered at the University of Maryland; an officially proclaimed U.S. Army “Mad Scientist”; and a national security consultant.

For more information, contact Mariam Aburdeineh at 703-993-9518 or maburdei@gmu.edu.

About George Mason

��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at www2.gmu.edu.

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Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA)

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School

International Security

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