About Specialization
Enter the dynamic field of crisis management and learn to navigate complex and high-pressure situations with our Bachelor of Arts in Security & Strategic Studies – Crisis Management program. Explore the realms of crisis communication, decision-making under pressure, crisis leadership and reputational management. Gain the skills to anticipate, prevent and effectively respond to crises in various sectors, including in business, government and international affairs. With this program, you will be prepared for a variety of careers, including crisis management consultant, public relations specialist and emergency response coordinator. Enroll today and become a trusted advisor and problem solver in times of uncertainty.
BA in Security and Strategic Studies - Program Goals
- To be a career path program that will graduate experts, decision-makers and leaders in the field of security and strategic studies.
- Motivate students to engage in constant learning inside and outside of the class; learn how to research and propose recommendations in the field of specialization in Security and Strategic Studies.
- Offer quality teaching and research learning resources environment, conducive for undergraduate students.
- Assure quality and consistency in learning outcomes of both theoretical and practical value, meeting the national market demands.
- Continuously develop the program, ensuring operating strategic standards are met, aligning with the AUE’s mission; aligning with national and international standards and strategies and methodologies to produce original and advanced research in the intelligence and security field.
BA in Security and Strategic Studies - Program Learning Outcomes
- Recognize the Concepts, Principles, Implementation of Security Strategic Studies, Intelligence and International affairs.
- Demonstrate critical analysis in the trends of global terrorism.
- Analyze the economic and political impact of international and domestic political conditions.
- Interpret the various elements of the theory of war and state’s behaviors in the affects in conflict situations.
- Contribute to the continued development of academic and professional field in security and strategic studies.
Preparatory Courses
Prior to their enrollment in the program, students applying for Bachelor of Arts in Security and Strategic Studies must sit for the placement test related to the program, failure to successfully passing the placement test, they are required to enroll in the following courses:
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1
2
Course Code
CIT 90
ENG 99
Courses
Computer Preparatory
Academic Writing (*)
Credit Hours
0
0
Exemption Condition
Passing the Placement Test
Passing the Placement Test
(*) Students must pass the English Proficiency.
Program Structure
Course Category
General Education Courses
Core Courses
Specialization Courses
Free Electives
Total
Total Number of Courses
12
19
6
5
42 Courses
Total Number of Credit Hours
36
54
15
15
120 Credit Hours
A: University Core Requirements
The student selects 6 credit hours (2 courses) from the list below:
The purpose of this course is to facilitate the process of transition into the new academic and cultural environment for the new students enrolled in the AUE. Furthermore, it aims to promote their confidence so that they could succeed and meet their academic requirements. The course assimilates academic content with interactive in-class activities to ensure understanding of curricular options and begin to develop a future career plan through self-reflection.
Innovation is the engine of opportunity and, acting as a catalyst, this course is intended to ignite an interest in innovation and inspire entrepreneurial action. At the core of innovation and entrepreneurship is a commitment to experiential learning that will encourage students to engage in critical thinking, creative problem-solving while also equipping them with the soft skills needed in their pursuit of academic and professional endeavors. Students will discuss the relevance and role of innovation and entrepreneurship in work and life situations; determine opportunities for creative disruption and design a strategy for its implementation; develop a practical understanding of innovation through thoughtful debate and exercises, and demonstrate critical thinking and individual insight with a personal mastery portfolio.
B: Languages and Communication Studies
The student must select 9 credit hours (3 courses) from the list below.
Students must take all of the following courses:
This course provides students with advanced writing skills in English so that they can successfully pursue their studies in various academic specializations. It helps students to develop, improve, and upgrade their writing and structure skills, and it also acquaints students with technical writing, research papers, and essays since brief research methods are applied in student projects and assignments.
The intent of this course is two-fold. First, it introduces students with the basic research terminologies. Second, it familiarizes them with the process of research from choosing a topic to writing the proposal. Students will be immersed in hands on experience where they will be introduced to research concepts that will help them understand, interpret, and critique a scientific research. Contents to be covered include the language of research, types of research, elements of scientific research proposal, writing an academic research proposal using APA style, research ethics, crafting data collection instruments, and interpreting data.
Students must take one of the following Arabic Language courses:
This course is designed to enable students to analyze multiple texts in various fields of knowledge. In order to be able to distinguish between texts despite their difference of contents, it also enables student to simulate those texts in a correct way, and to transform the information into skill and behavior. And since writing is an integrated building process, and that the building is affected by its parts, therefore student needs models, linguistic laws, planning, cohesion and goals including: news and inquiries, demand and influence of the recipient.
This course is based on the principle that “Education” is an accumulative task especially when it comes to language learning. This process undergoes specific stages to assist the non-Arabic speakers to reach the ultimate goal which is to acquire the required skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) easily and accurately. To achieve this aim, text-based dialogues are provided as a head start for the non-Arabic speakers to continue to the higher levels. The course also provides basic elements for reading, writing, dialogues, and listening to assist the learners to confidently interact with the Arab community.
This course is designed to enable the Arabic-speaking student with the necessary language skills, especially focusing on the steps of writing reports, official letters and systematic research. To achieve this, and to develop the student’s abilities to understand correctly what he reads and listens, and to gain the ability to write articles, reports, meeting minutes and recommendations of conferences and seminars in a sound manner, the course was concerned with training the student in basic writing skills; such as multiple spelling rules, punctuation marks, paragraph system, and essay writing progressively.
C: The Natural sciences or Mathematics
The student must select 6 credit hours (2 courses) from the list below:
The natural science course incorporates a wide range of subjects sciences such as astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, and environmental science. The course will present the scientific facts of astronomy, the Earth and its weather, water, and environment, biology, and nutrition with the chemicals of life. The course emphasizes understanding the core principles of different branches of science and their effects on our lives. Moreover, the course explores the scope of natural phenomena, changing environmental conditions, general health rules of nutrition, and the variety of living organisms. The course helps the students to acquire skills in observation, critical thinking, analyzing, interpreting, understanding, and discussing scientific terminology and facts.
This course gives a thorough introduction to sustainable energy, conservation, and energy efficiency within the UAE and the world. It will explore the relationship between energy, environment, economy, and ecological well-being. It will discuss energy production from the biology, natural science, environmental science, and social sciences perspectives. A variety of topics will be introduced including global warming, climate change, sustainable food production, solid wastemanagement, environmental and natural resources laws. The course includes the growing challenges of climate change and energy crises and proposes solutions to overcome them.
The ‘Principles of Environmental Science course is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts of environmental science to undergraduate students. It includes topics from different areas of study such as ecology, biology, soil science, and atmospheric science. The course aims at raising environmental awareness among students and providing them with the scientific knowledge and skills to identify, prevent and solve environmental problems. Additionally, it deals with ecological concepts, organism interactions, communities, and ecosystems. The course focuses on key areas of population dynamics, biodiversity, human activities, environment-managed ecosystems, air quality, water, and solid waste management.
This course is designed to develop a good understanding of the fundamental concepts of mathematics. It also stresses crucial cognitive transferable skills such as the ability to think logically and concisely. Mastering this course will give students the confidence to go on and do further courses in mathematics and statistics.
D: The Social or Behavioral Sciences
The student must select 3 credit hours (1 course) from the list below:
An introduction to the science of psychology, its theories, and foundations. The course is focused on principles and research methodologies, including the following topics: history of psychology, the biology of mind, memory, learning, child and personality development, psychological disorders, and therapy. The course aims to introduce the basis of psychology, provide the foundational knowledge to pursue the subject in more depth in the future, and build an ongoing interest in the application of psychology in everyday life.
This course serves as an introduction to the interdisciplinary and multifaceted social sciences. The content of the course covers the range of different disciplines that social sciences consists of, namely: anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, and to a lesser extent also history and geography. The secondary aim of the course is moreover for students to develop their critical thinking skills by engaging actively with material about social issues, social change, and social institutions.
This course will introduce the students to the key concepts of Political Science and its principal tools. The course will discuss the role of main political actors in the field of politics and their function.
This course introduces the science of Sociology. Students will examine Society, Institutions, and the relationships that make up a social context. The scientific methodology used to study social interactions, stratification, and other elements of sociological inquiry will be discussed to emphasize the core concept of sociology as a systematic study of societies and social structures
This course provides an understanding of anthropology, the study of human beings throughout time and space. Anthropology is a broad discipline that studies humans from a holistic perspective looking at both biological and cultural aspects. Anthropologists use different methods to understand and study humans. During this course, students will experience ethnographic fieldwork.
This course will provide the students with a comprehensive overview of geography. Emphasis is on concepts that are necessary to understand global, regional, and local issues. This course also includes topics on both human and physical geography.
E: The Humanities or Arts
The student must select 3 credit hours (1 course) from the list below:
This course explores Arab art and aesthetics from the beginning of the twentieth century to date. The students will learn about the contemporary art and design movement in Arab countries, the expression of cultural identity, as well as the factors involved, and changes in aesthetics from Islamic to Arabic art. They will also study and analyze the role of pioneer artists from various generations with emphasis on their influence on contemporary Arab art.
This course will introduce the students to the key concepts of philosophy and its principle tools. The course will discuss the schools of philosophical thought and will apply philosophical analysis to the topics of knowledge, religion, mind, freedom, responsibility, and ethics.
This course provides an overview of Middle-Eastern History, including the sources of Middle Eastern History. The course will conclude with discussions about perspectives on Middle-Eastern History.
This course provides an overview of World / General History. The course will conclude with discussions about perspectives on World History. It surveys the history of humankind from 250CE till 1990 CE. In addition, interregional, comparative, cross-cultural, transnational, and historiographical topics will be considered. The objective of the course is to explore the roots of contemporary globalization and to develop historical thinking and writing.
This course will provide the students with a comprehensive overview of English literature in the United States. It will familiarize the students primarily with early Anglo-American writers and the different literary movements that took place in the United States. Today American literature includes many minority literary works, but the historical matrix remains Anglo-Saxon if we are to consider the dominant culture as the starting historical point.
This course aims to focus on the evolution of Islamic Art through a chronological overview of various trends and approaches throughout history. Students will explore and analyze the rise and influence of Islam leading to the formation of a new artistic culture the world over.
F: Islamic Studies
The student must select 3 credit hours (1 course) from the list below
This course will expand students’ knowledge to enable them to understand the Islamic culture and its characteristics. It analyzes the sources of legislation in Islam. It offers a review of the history of Islam and how it is currently the fastest-growing religion in the world.
The course is designed to give an in-depth understanding of the Islamic civilization. It deals with the universal principles that went into the making of the Islamic civilization. It examines the basic ideas of Islamic civilization besides exploring their contemporary relevance and challenges. The course seeks to effectively address the notion of the ‘clash of civilizations.
G: UAE Studies
The student must select 3 credit hours (1 course) from the list below.
The course is designed to introduce the UAE and GCC society with its historical background and uniqueness. It is aimed at enabling students to understand the specific features of the society along with its customs, traditions, and lifestyle. The course will introduce the processes and the challenges of development as well as the future aspirations of the UAE and GCC Society.
This course is designed as a broad survey of the contemporary Security and Strategic Studies and has two interrelated objectives: The first is to familiarize students with the theoretical foundations of the Security and Strategic Studies. The second objective is to encourage students to link the theoretical debates in the discipline to empirical observations in Global Politics.
Research is one of the most crucial objectives within a BA Program. Getting to accustomed and developing on conducting a research, firstly in social sciences, specifically in Strategic topics in the world, is the main objective of this program and course. Conducting the research and especially orchestrating a social survey, problem of objectivity in strategic research, cultivating a specific formula on research problems and most importantly propound a right hypothesis on a deep subject are the assets of this course. To ensure and develop above mentioned processes and steps, scanning current articles, books and different studies in a specific area and pursuing selective reading techniques are cardinal elements to be studied. Preparing extended outline in accordance with hypothesis assembled in Security Studies, extending and transformation techniques, data collection, and research writings are the steps which will be learnt in this course. Some research topics are included into study such as security history, strategic geography, modern phenomena of peacemaking and peacekeeping, disarmament, counterinsurgency, important military strategists, types of strategies, effect of military and industrial complexes on the conflicts.
This course examines the key themes in IR: state and non-state actors, international norms, international law, international institutions, international theory and international system in a Globalized world The “Four Cs” (confrontation, compromise, co-operation and conflict) will be analyzed in depth. Last but not least, this course will focus on international security – in particular, the major threats of the 21st century
This course will help the students develop and understand various schools of thoughts of strategic studies. Furthermore, it will bridge the gap between theory and practice of strategic studies through the study of different works by classical and contemporary experts of this field. The course will help the students understand various themes of strategic studies to develop strategic thinking. Students in this course will learn how to create a balance between mindboggling theories and their applications.
This course is an introduction to international law, generally understood as the set of rules binding the international conduct of Nation-states actors and non-state actors. It will identify public international law, its sources, jurisdictions and states’ rights and obligations. Special topics to be addressed will include law of the sea, international criminal law, environmental law, human rights, and humanitarian international law. In addition, this course will provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of international law, contemporary debates and future trends.
The link between International security and environmental politics is centuries old. Increased pace and frequency of conquests and annexations, supported by mechanized and well developed equipment’s (an outcome of industrial revolution), were responsible for making the relation more explicit. This basic fact apart, throughout human history, we see a trend of ignorance towards environmental issues as greater importance always remained associated with apparatus and procedures which were considered a pre-requisite for ensuring security. These problems finally caught human attention and focus in the mid twentieth century. Since then a vast discourse has emerged to solve environmental problems by attempting to reduce the conflict between environment and International security endeavors. The main objective of designing this course is to make students familiar with this intricate web existing between security and environment. The particular discourse introduced in this subject is based primarily on liberal and feminist approaches towards International Relations as well as International Security; the approach similar to that held by Peace studies.
The course is a third-year level course for the Bachelor of Security and Strategic Studies. The course examines and analyses, through the scope of geography and political science combined, international and strategic affairs. Its scope provides an emphasis on political geography, international relations, strategic and security affairs and elements of international law when applicable in international affairs. Students will be introduced to elements of international affairs of the 20th and the 21st century, through the comprehension and utilization of maps and showcase the importance of natural resources and how pivotal role these play in international affairs seen as national, regional or international interests. Students are expected to approach international issues in way which can be define pragmatic in nature, as these vary from strategically led traditional approaches of international relations.
This course introduces a sub-field of political science known as Comparative Politics. It is one of the four traditional subfields of political science. Simply put, this is the study of political relationships and processes within particular countries (as opposed to the relations between countries), using the theoretical and empirical knowledge gained from comparative analysis. It differs from international relations for two reasons: in its focus on individual countries and regions, and its comparison across units (national and subnational actors) and substantive topics.
This course aspires to acquaint students with the various weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological) and explain to them how they can be developed (and acquired) by states and armed non-state actors and how they can be become a grave security threat in the wrong hands (i.e. rogue states or terrorists).
The course is designed to provide the students with deeper insight and perspectives towards national security and the arms race in the era of globalization. After the WWII, the dominant actors in the world politics have spent major portion of their national budget pursuing missile defense system, transnational threats, proxy wars, and star wars to shield against the threat of nuclear attacks, thus, provoking new arms races among nations and states. The emergence of 21st century is experiencing the most critical concerns of national security, which reflects the balance of power politics and the global arms race. The rapid changes emanating from the susceptibility of the transnational threats observed after post 9/11 symptoms demands more dynamic thought process to examine pure military expeditions have resulted in further alienation and paralysis of statehood theory and to some extent the democratic apparatus system. The course looks more deeply into the national security, statecraft, emergence of faith based ideological aspects, conflict resolution and peacemaking. The present trends on the arms races has seen countries both developed and under developing to set their security strategies covering risk assessment, security analysis, and public policy to long-term strategic goals. The course will help students to understand responsibility of the governments to address these threats to national and international security. Students will learn basic terminologies and discusses strategic and policy debates about new forms of terrorism after the 9/11. The sessions are designed to stimulate interest and debate among the students, professionals, public and policy-makers, by providing solid facts and analysis. This also allows scientific, geopolitical, historical and strategic analysis of various components to critique the delusion of perfect national security.
This is an undergraduate course for students interested in pursuing their career in the sphere of international relations: it is for future diplomats of respective national Ministries of Foreign Affairs, those interested in working for international organizations, as well as for students interested in the day-to-day process of foreign policy making. The aim of this course is to give students an insight into the real-world practice of international relations. Lectures will introduce the most important facts and concepts about actors in the area of international relations and the basic knowledge necessary for diplomats. Other sessions will help students improve their writing and presentation skills in this area. This course will introduce students to the basic principles and techniques of modern diplomacy. The course will include discussions of international legal obligations, diplomatic policy and the role of publicity in diplomacy and different aspects of diplomacy including public diplomacy.
This course intends to examine how mass media (especially at the Age of the Internet) affects political system, social stability, crisis, or ongoing wars. Concepts about fake news, brainwashing and propaganda wars will be examined through various cases studies.
The Special Topics in Strategic Studies’ is intended to showcase the diversified areas of teaching that has wide relevance in local, regional and global context. Special Topics on Security will also provide the necessary skills for students to identify and assess contemporary security situations, most of which may include events and problematics on crime, terrorism, criminality, public and private security, cybersecurity, asymmetric warfare and illegal trade.
International conflicts are traditionally associated with dispute of two or more nation-states (inter-state), but could be related to conflict within one country(intra-state), when one or more groups are fighting for specific cause that have international consequences. The course will analyze international conflicts, while examining strategies and tactic for conflict management and conflict resolution.
After 9/11 terrorism studies has emerged as a science and made a considerable number of social scientists and scholars write and debate about complex dynamics of terrorism. This course is designed to make the students understand all the dynamics of Terrorism in detail.
This course examines the defense policies of major world powers in an effort to understand the policy-making issues with regards to national security. In addition, the inter-connection between strategy and defense is briefly analyzed. The application of the defense policy in crisis situations, bilateral and multilateral realties as well as interactions with global actors other than states is also of essence.
This course will expose students to the evolution of the International System in the 21st Century, focusing on the causes and processes of regional and global power rise and collapse. The course emphasizes the role of emerging international powers and the fundamental factors driving their rise in addition to the significance of crisis international law in the emergence of these new world powers. As a result of this course, students will be able to examine the various aspects of power in these states and analyze their central policies.
Pre-Internship is a one credit hour internship preparatory course designed for students seeking an internship. The course will prepare students to successfully plan their internship by researching and identifying potential internship opportunities, creating professional resume and letter of introduction, developing interviewing and networking skills as well as a portfolio per industry requirements. Students will go through different learning modules including experiences, team work skills, communication skills, leadership skills, problem solving, self-management and professionalism to be able to make the most of their internship.
This Internship course offers students a substantial industry placement. The Internship course intends to provide students the opportunity to apply and develop their classroom and academic learning in the workplace environment related to their study discipline and chosen specialization prior to graduation. Students typically enroll in this course in their penultimate or final semester. Employers increasingly expect university graduates and their graduate employees to have gained practical and vocationally specific experience as part of an undergraduate degree program. They also expect graduates to behave with an accomplished professionalism and to have developed professional attitudes, skills and behaviors. Undergraduate students, likewise, wish to have the academic and practical skill set to be valued as a potential employee. Undergraduate students also seek knowledge about the various career possibilities and opportunities in security field. An internship allows current students to understand the relationship between their academic and career choices and build a personal portfolio to assist them to make their career ambitions become a reality.
This course offers students the basics in identifying, preventing, and controlling crisis situations. The topics include comprehensive emergency management, public and private roles and partnerships for emergency and crisis management, the risk management process, strategic crisis management, contingency planning, training and exercises, emergency response, business continuity and recovery, the role of the crisis management team, and crisis communication. It also helps students identify potential risks or situations that may precipitate a crisis or emergency and learn approaches on how to respond to such incidents.
This course is an introduction to crisis management and organizational continuity from private sector and public/private sector partnership perspective. Course topics and content reflect the changes in crisis management following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the lessons learned in recent disasters and catastrophes, particularly Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami. The topics include comprehensive emergency management, public and private roles and partnerships for emergency and crisis management, the risk management process, strategic crisis management, contingency planning, training and exercises, emergency response, business continuity and recovery, the role of the crisis management team, and crisis communication.
This course will help students to understand the way governments manage crises and security threats. Governments at all levels of society (from local government to federal or national governments, from local police to international organizations) are traditionally obliged and naturally eager to protect its citizens. This course is organized around two main issues: the nature of intergovernmental relations and the management of crises and emergencies. The course informs about the political system in which emergency managers navigate and provides an overview of key governmental agencies and actors involved the management of crises and emergency situations.
The informative and practical course on crisis mental health in theory and practice covers the psychology of the victims of crisis and disasters and discusses how to assist these victims of dramatic, life-changing events. The primary aim of this course is to support and empower those mental health practitioners and students who will be working in the trenches of disaster’s aftermath. Another goal is to arm disaster responders who are not mental health specialists with sufficient knowledge to consider the role of mental health and how it might be helpful. The course is a tool for disaster preparedness and planning. The course explains mental health interventions in a practical manner so that readers may obtain and develop additional skills in the wake of disaster.
This course will introduce students to various incident response and disaster recovery tools and techniques. Topics covered include: the development and implementation of incident response, business continuity and disaster recovery plans and traffic analysis.The course focuses on Vulnerability, Cost and Benefit Analysis, Response Planning, Management Audit Techniques and further analysis.
This course covers the pre-production planning and processes for completing the capstone graduate project. The students will follow the necessary steps in the production pipeline while identifying and refining their idea, concept and methodology.
Global Security and Strategic Studies students are required to take a three-credit hour course on the Capstone Graduation Project. To be graduated, students are requested not only to passing courses and earning required credits, but also, they need to show that they have developed proficiency in core-content knowledge and can demonstrate proficiency in applied learning skills in the four concentrations. It will be a challenging and rigorous journey but the reward for undertaking a meaningful experience are immense and will undoubtedly give AUE graduates a powerful start in career they may choose. In addition, English language and technology proficiency must also be demonstrated. The Capstone Graduation Projects should be in the form of field-based case studies. The Capstone Graduation Project is designed to give students a constructive working understanding of the requirements and expectations needed to graduate from AUE.
Choose 15 credit hours from any other college/specialization with the condition that all the prerequisites of the chosen courses are met.
Recommended Study Plan
Accreditations
The American University in the Emirates is licensed by the UAE Ministry of Education – Commission for Academic Accreditation | caa.ae
Prof. Chahine A. Ghais
Professor / Dean
Prof. Dusko Tomic
Professor / Program Director - Security And Strategic Studies
Dr. Eldar Šaljić
Associate Professor / Program Director - Security Studies And Information Analysis
Dr. Nahla Hamdan
Assistant Professor / Program Director - Master of Arts and Diplomacy
- For Admission Requirements for Freshman students (those who have just completed high school and have never attended an Institute of Higher Education before) click here
- For Admission Requirements for Transfer students (those who have studied at another higher education institution and would like to transfer their credits to AUE) click here
- For Admission Requirements for Visiting students (those who are currently enrolled in a different higher education institution and would like to take some courses at AUE as part of the study plan of their home university/college) click here
Joining the Program
- Fall Semester
- September
- Spring Semester
- January
- Summer Semester
- May