4076 - Issues in National Security
In-Person Course | Registration opens 9/8/2026 10:00 AM EDT
This course will address both national and technological strategic threats to U.S. security. We will discuss the changing national security strategy and doctrine; examine near-peer adversaries Russia and China; and describe technological threats including nuclear, biological, artificial intelligence and cyber threats. We will end by assessing the recent conflict with Iran and how that reshapes the world security posture.
- National Security Strategy and U.S. Doctrine: The new strategy and the American pivot to the Western Hemisphere, while still competing with China and attacking Iran.
- Russia and Ukraine: Russia’s revanchist ambitions are at odds with falling birth rates and economic decline. Does Ukraine’s surprisingly strong resistance indicate a new type of warfare?
- Managing Conflict with China: A rising power seeks worldwide prestige and dominance of Taiwan. Can the U.S. compete successfully with China and its global influence?
- Cyber Threats, Critical Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence: Cyber threats can turn out our lights and shut off the water. Can anything be done? Artificial Intelligence as both servant and threat.
- Emerging Biological Threats: Synthetic biology, gain-of-function research and more.
- Nuclear Weapons – The Sum of All Fears: How can the U.S. deter both China and Russia? Is a nuclear war becoming more likely?
- Iran: The Third Gulf War and the Way Ahead. Needed intervention, critical victory or stumbling stone?
Recommended Reading: National Security Strategy of the United States of America, November 2025; A Primer on Russian Cognitive Warfare, Institute for the Study of War; Military and Security Developments in the People’s Republic of China, U.S. Department of Defense; The National Biodefense Strategy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Defense Primer: Strategic Nuclear Forces, Library of Congress; “The A.I. Prompt that Could End the World,” Stephen Witt, New York Times, October 10, 2025
This course will be offered in-person at George Mason University.
David Siegrist
David Siegrist has taught both noncredit and graduate courses at George Mason University and Georgetown University. He was the national strategy public policy fellow at GU, where he earned a master's in government, and he earned a PhD in biodefense from GMU. He recently retired from The MITRE Corporation, where for 16 years his work supported the U.S. government, largely in areas limiting weapons of mass destruction and countering proliferation.