War Studies Program
Learn the theory, practice, organization, and control of war and military forces.
In this War Studies Advanced Program, students will explore the Korean War and the current situation in Korea and the Northeast Asia region.
War Studies Advanced Programs are open only to alumni of the basic War Studies course. These sessions are offered in the winter and summer, and focus either on a national security challenge or on a historical conflict. Learn more about the War Studies Program.
Frederick Kagan on the U.S. military
Faculty
James M. Dubik
LTG James M. Dubik (U.S. Army, Ret.) is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Study of War and a Professor at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. General Dubik has extensive operational experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Bosnia, Haiti, Panama, Honduras, and in many NATO countries.
James M. Dubik
LTG James M. Dubik (U.S. Army, Ret.) is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Study of War and a Professor at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. General Dubik has extensive operational experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Bosnia, Haiti, Panama, Honduras, and in many NATO countries.
His last job on active duty was as Commanding General of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) and the NATO Training Mission-Iraq during the Surge of 2007–2008. He is a member of the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame and a distinguished member of the U.S. Army 75th Ranger Regiment.
General Dubik taught Philosophy at West Point and Campaign Theory and Practice at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has completed an MIT fellowship program for national security studies as well as executive programs in national security at Harvard’s JFK School of Government and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is the author, most recently, of Just War Reconsidered: Strategy, Ethics, and Theory.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania; a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences from the Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University.
Frederick W. Kagan
Frederick W. Kagan is a Senior Instructor with the Hertog War Studies Program at the Institute for the Study of War. The author of the 2007 report “Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq,” he is one of the intellectual architects of the successful “surge” strategy in Iraq. He is the director of AEI’s Critical Threats Project.
Frederick W. Kagan
Frederick W. Kagan is a Senior Instructor with the Hertog War Studies Program at the Institute for the Study of War. The author of the 2007 report “Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq,” he is one of the intellectual architects of the successful “surge” strategy in Iraq. He is the Robert H. Malott Chair and Director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
In 2009, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of General Stanley McChrystal’s strategic assessment team, and he returned to Afghanistan in 2010, 2011, and 2012 to conduct research for Generals David Petraeus and John Allen. In July 2011, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen awarded him the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor the Chairman can present to civilians who do not work for the Department of Defense, for his volunteer service in Afghanistan.
He is coauthor of the report Defining Success in Afghanistan (AEI and the Institute for the Study of War, 2010) and author of the series of reports Choosing Victory (AEI), which recommended and monitored the US military surge in Iraq. His most recent book is Lessons for a Long War: How America Can Win on New Battlefields (AEI Press, 2010, with Thomas Donnelly). Previously an associate professor of military history at West Point, Dr. Kagan is a contributing editor at the Weekly Standard and has written for Foreign Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and other periodicals.
He holds a Ph.D. from Yale University in Russian and Soviet military history.
Kimberly Kagan
Kimberly Kagan is a Senior Instructor with the Hertog War Studies Program and founder and president of the Institute for the Study of War. She is a military historian who has taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Yale, Georgetown, and American University.
Kimberly Kagan
Kimberly Kagan is a Senior Instructor with the Hertog War Studies Program and founder and president of the Institute for the Study of War. She is a military historian who has taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Yale, Georgetown, and American University.
Dr. Kagan served in Kabul for seventeen months from 2010 to 2012 working for commanders of the International Security Assistance Force, General David H. Petraeus and subsequently General John Allen. Admiral Mike Mullen, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recognized Dr. Kagan for this deployment as a volunteer with the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor the Chairman can present to civilians who do not work for the Department of Defense.
Dr. Kagan previously served as a member of General Stanley McChrystal’s strategic assessment team, comprised of civilian experts, during his campaign review in June and July 2009. She conducted many regular battlefield circulations of Iraq between May 2007 and April 2010 while General Petraeus and General Raymond T. Odierno served as the MNF-I Commanding General.
Dr. Kagan held an Olin Postdoctoral Fellowship in Military History at Yale International Security Studies in 2004 to 2005 and was a National Security Fellow at Harvard’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies in 2002 to 2003. She received her B.A. in Classical Civilization and her Ph.D. in History from Yale University.
Download the Full Syllabus
Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session
Introduction and the War Begins
Strategic and Domestic Political Context
Readings:
- T. R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War, Chs. 1-4
- Max Hastings, The Korean War, Chs. 1-3
- Matthew B. Ridgway, The Korean War, Ch. 1
- Dennis Wainstock, Truman, MacArthur, and the Korean War, Introduction
The Initial Attack, U.N. decision, and the Defense of Pusan
Readings:
Inchon, China Enters the War, and MacArthur
Inchon, The Drive to the Yalu, and The Chinese Entry into the War
Readings:
- Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation. Ch. 47, excerpts of Chs. 48-49, pp. 441-457 and 461-477
- Max Hastings, The Korean War. Chs. 5-8
- Matthew B. Ridgway, The Korean War. Chs. 3-4
- T. R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War. Chs. 14-19
The MacArthur Controversy and Ridgway Assumes Command
Readings:
- Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation. Chs. 53-54
- Max Hastings, The Korean War. Chs. 9-10
- Matthew B. Ridgway, The Korean War. Chs. 5-6
- T. R. Fahrenbach, This Kind of War. Chs. 24-25
Armistice and the Formation of Two Koreas
The 38th Parallel, Stalemate, and the Armistice
Readings:
- Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation. Chs. 55 and 68
- Matthew B. Ridgway, The Korean War. Chs. 7-9
- Max Hastings, The Korean War. Chs. 16-18
- T. R. Fahrenbach, This Kind of War. Chs. 29-32 and 37-39
- Transcript of the armistice agreement
The Development of the Two Koreas, Part 1
Readings:
The Two Koreas and Today's Risk Assesment, Part I
The Development of the Two Koreas, Part 2
Readings:
Today’s Risk Assessment, Part 1
Readings:
- Abby Hamblin, “North Korea: How Obama, Bush, Clinton dealt with the rogue nation,” San Diego Union-Tribune, August 10, 2017
- Sarah Lohschelder, “Three Presidents Facing North Korea—A Review of U.S. Foreign Policy,” Huffington Post
- Jamie McIntyre, “Winning a war against North Korea would come a ‘great cost’: Here’s what it might look like,” The Washington Examiner, July 16, 2017.
- Susan Glasser, “North Korea: The Full Transcript [of a discussion with Ambassador Christopher Hill and Admiral Dennis Blair],” Politico Magazine, September 18, 2017.
- Eleanor Albert, “What to Know About the Sanctions on North Korea,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 26, 2017.
Today's Risk Assessment, Part II and Regional Perspectives
Today’s Risk Assessment, Part 2
Readings:
- Russell Goldman, “How Trump’s Predecessors Dealt With the North Korean Threat,” The New York Times, August 17, 2017
- Jacqueline Klimas, “Trump’s North Korea strategy: A lot like Obama’s,” Politico, August 8, 2017
- Eleanor Albert, “North Korea’s Military Capabilities,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 5, 2017
- Mike Mullen and Sam Nunn, Chairs and Adam Mount, Project Director, “A Sharper Choice on North Korea: Engaging China for a Stable Northeast Asia,” Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force Report No. 74, September, 2016
- Eleanor Albert, “The China-North Korea Relationship,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 27, 2017
- Elenor Albert, “What to Know About the Sanctions on North Korea,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 26, 2017
- Nicholas Eberstadt, “Some Recommendations to the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on North Korea,” American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 2016
- David Lai and Alyssa Blair, “How to Learn to Live with a Nuclear North Korea,” Foreign Policy, August 7, 2017
- Daniel Wertz, “Inter-Korean Relations,” NCNK, January, 2017
Other National Perspectives
Readings:
- Titli Basu, “Kim Jong-un’s Crazy Summer: A Litmus Test for Japan,” The Diplomat, September 2, 2017
- Rachel Blomquist and Daniel Wertz, “An Overview of North Korea-Japan Relations,” NCNK, June 2015
- Ji-young Song, “How Australia could help South Korea deal with Pyongyang,” NK News.org, November 9, 2017
- Henry Belot, “North Korea’s nuclear weapons program poses serious threat to Australia, Julie Bishop warns,” ABC, April 17, 2017
- Eleanor Albert, “The China-North Korea Relationship,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 27, 2017
- Anny Boc, “China’s North Korea Debate: Redrawing the Red Line,” The Diplomat, November 22, 2017
- Weifeng Zhong, “China is Trying to Bribe North Korea into Good Behavior. Here is what that means for America,” American Enterprise Institute, November 9, 2017
- Jeffrey A. Bader, “Diplomacy toward North Korea: Some Good News,” Brookings Institution, September 18, 2017
- Thomas Donnelly, “A brutal, but reasonable, response to North Korea,” American Enterprise Institute, November 15, 2017
