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In September 2022, as this year’s entry in the Jack Kelly and Gail Weiss Lecture Series, the Notre Dame International Security Center was delighted and honored to welcome Avril Haines: Director of National Intelligence, and Amy McAuliffe: Assistant Director of CIA for Weapons and Counterproliferation to the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.  

In this blog, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to Mackenzie Nolan and discuss her experiences in our program and in the professional world. 

Of the places where this education can be attained, America’s War Colleges are among the most prestigious. In this blog, we explore the past, present, and future of the war colleges in the United States. 

Within the study of international relations (IR), there are many ideologies practitioners of this political science investigate and frequently find themselves gravitating towards, but realism in international relations is still one of the most dominant.

One of the highest levels of statecraft is grand strategy. Strategy in battle is crucial, but civilians are often asked to make sacrifices “for the cause.” 

The world needs innovators in the international security and international relations fields. Students all over the world understand this, so they look for an international security program to nurture their desire to make the world a better place.

Ukrainian fighters have destroyed Russian fighting vehicles with U.S. supplied Javelins. But replacing the thousands of missiles could take years, largely because of a...

Meanwhile, Michael Desch, a professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame and the director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, opined that the bill will likely intensify the hostilities in Ukraine as well as hinder a diplomatic solution to the conflict. He also expressed concerns that widespread provision of small arms in Ukraine could benefit the country's criminals and extremists.

In the final NDISC Seminar Series event for the 2021-22 school year, the Notre Dame International Security Center welcomed Boston University political science professor and department chair Dr. Neta Crawford to campus.

For almost seventy-five years now, the National Security Act of 1947 has significantly impacted how Presidents develop and implement foreign policy, transforming not only America but the global community as well.

In April 2022, NDISC welcomed Penn State Associate Political Science Professor Roseanne McManus to discuss he research in Madman Theory. Dr. McManus' research focuses on the effect madness (or perceived madness) has on international relationships.

When a new Federal law creates or restructures government agencies, it’s not uncommon for the law to create a new role within that agency. Such was the case upon the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. The law, signed by President Truman in the wake of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, restructured the US military and intelligence agencies.

Los Alamos National Labs and Sandia National Laboratories were the centerpieces of The Notre Dame International Security Center’s (NDISC) Spring Break 2022 learning experience.  

In the final NDISC Seminar Series for the month of March 2022, we were excited to welcome Congressional Staffer Matt Duss, who has also served as the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and a national security and international policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.

The Notre Dame International Security Center (NDISC) is proud to organize and host a variety of important and informative conversations featuring leading thinkers in their respective fields in our Seminar Series.

In a world at war, and with wars rarely being a real solution, the nuclear arms stalemate has been a realistic compromise between Catholicism’s pacificism and its just war theory.

Deference to senior command is a hard-wired tradition in elite military organizations, and nowhere is that tradition more honored than in the U.S. Marine Corps. But what happens if a policy coming from the top of the chain of command is insufficiently tested or intrinsically flawed? Where is it written that a subordinate or former commander can set aside deference and demand a second look?

Intelligence analysts are one of the most coveted international security jobs, playing a key role in national security and international relations. They compile data and information from multiple sources to assess threats and prevent attacks from external and internal enemies. Their number one priority is to ensure the safety of their country.  

Ian Johnson, assistant professor of military history at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, believes that "the possibility of a coup is a faint one, but not impossible."  "Putin has surrounded himself with individuals he believes are incapable of succeeding him, but should the war go poorly over an extended period of time, Putin may face the prospect of removal," he told Newsweek.

Major Grunert is an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. He has served as a military prosecutor and legal advisor on four continents. In his capacity as an Assistant Professor in the Air Force Academy’s Department of Law, Major Grunert teaches a course in his particular specialty: Space Law.