Special Advanced Research Programs (ARPs)
Four Advanced Research Groups provide an opportunity for a small group of specially selected students to pursue collaborative research projects on operational and strategic issues of current interest to the senior leadership of the Navy and the Department of Defense.
Halsey ALPHA
Click to Open Examines enduring warfare imbalances of high-intensity conventional warfare in maritime area denial situations, specifically in the Pacific Theater. This group uses iterative, ongoing wargaming and operational analysis as their primary methodologies.
Halsey BRAVO
Click to Open Examines medium-intensity, asymmetric and anti-access challenges, particularly within the Middle East. This group also uses iterative, ongoing wargaming and operational analysis as their primary methodologies.
Gravely Research Group
Click to Open Students in this group pursue individual research projects into Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Undersea Warfare, based on current and future operational requirements and adding to the overall body of knowledge in these mission areas.
The Mahan Scholars Program
Click to Open Students in this group study the concept of deterrence and related “ways” of using instruments of national power, examine these ways’ roles in US national security strategy and nested military and service strategies, and use this foundation to study related debates in the nuclear realm. The group is seminar based and each student conducts a guided individual research and writing project.
More on ARPsIndividual Advanced Research Projects
The Individual Advanced Research Projects allow qualified students to undertake individual research projects that substitute for single core courses. These projects, comparable to master’s research project, are subject to review and approval by the Advanced Research Council (ARC) and the President of the Naval War College.
Individual Advanced Research Projects
Click to Open They are supervised by faculty advisors with expertise in the areas studied. Faculty members, including the faculty advisor chosen to guide the student’s research and the director of the program, evaluate each ARP proposal and final product. Nominally, individual research projects are proposed in the student’s first trimester at the college with preliminary research done in the second trimester. The student’s final trimester is then used to complete the research and produce the written product. The most successful students in this program have some level of experience in research methodology and in writing thesis-length papers.
Regional & Specialized Study Groups
The Naval War College hires faculty members with regional security expertise and analysis in all areas of the globe. Academic, research, and gaming faculty members possessing regional and cultural knowledge participate in our regional studies groups, through which the Naval War College promotes major research and exchange/educational relationships with counterpart institutions around the world.
Arctic Studies Group
Click to Open The Arctic Studies Group (ASG) is an interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students with interest, expertise, or experience in the dynamic and emerging Arctic region. In August 2013, the ASG was created to educate leaders, strengthen maritime partnerships, and generate rigorous, forward-thinking, and timely research to support the needs of the joint and naval community. The ASG provides a platform for students and faculty to engage in collaborative thinking, analysis, problem-solving and multi-disciplinary research on Arctic governance and security issues.
ASG students will explore the linkage between Arctic culture, history, economics, and security through independent research, gaming, field trips, and frequent engagement with regional and functional experts from government, academia, and industry. The curriculum encourages creative, out-of-the box thinking that enables students to explore solutions to real-world planning missions and problem sets provided by leaders from the Navy, Coast Guard, U.S. European Command, U.S. Northern Command, Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and the Arctic Council. In cooperation with other regional study groups and departments, the ASG hosts a series of lecturers, roundtables, and workshops throughout the year to link students and faculty with scholars and practitioners from both Arctic and non-Arctic states.
ASG faculty frequently publish scholarly articles and books on the region and present their research findings to senior leaders and at major academic conferences.
Africa Studies Group
Click to Open The Africa Studies Group comprises faculty and students with an interest in African affairs. The group strives to increase awareness and enhance teaching on regional issues by supporting faculty professional development, sponsoring guest speakers, disseminating information about local events relating to Africa, and circulating electronic articles of interest to members. The Africa Studies Group also provides subject matter expertise and research support to the Navy, Combatant and Component Commanders and other DoD agencies. It also actively supports NWC and USAFRICOM regional engagement and security cooperation activities in theater. The primary day-to-day mission of the Africa Studies Group is the development and execution of an elective program focusing on African culture and history, military history and contemporary security, and politics. The College of Distance Education offers online versions of these courses accessible to officers of all services on a global basis.
Asia Pacific Studies Group
Click to Open The Asia-Pacific Studies Group (APSG) consists of faculty and students at the NWC with particular interest, expertise, or experience in China, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, Oceania, regional maritime affairs, and U.S. military strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. The group serves as the focal point for information sharing related to major policy developments within the region and to U.S. policy. The APSG supports discussion round tables for visiting dignitaries and hosts several guest speakers throughout the academic year. The group performs an important outreach function for the College by facilitating faculty and student participation in major conferences and research activities in the Asia-Pacific region and in the United States. APSG works with the China Maritime Studies Institute and the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Naval War College to promote greater regional awareness. In addition, the APSG undertakes periodic interactions with other military colleges across the region and with major research organizations devoted to Asia and the Pacific. Finally, APSG performs a coordinating function with the electives program on the growing array of course offerings on the region and on U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy, enabling students to fulfill the requirements for the college’s Asia-Pacific area of study. The Asia-Pacific area of study offers a broad array of courses from basic surveys on specific countries to more specialized topics of importance to the Navy such as Chinese Maritime Development.
Europe-Russia Studies Group
Click to Open The Europe-Russia Studies Group (ERSG) comprises faculty and students with an interest in Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus. While addressing issues internal to those geopolitical areas, the ERSG focuses on issues of transatlantic interest in the political, economic, and security spheres. The purpose of the ERSG is to stimulate the exchange of applied learning and knowledge, bringing educational value to the Naval War College, its faculty and its students, and supplying strategic and operational thought to topics of relevance to the Navy and the Joint Force through academic research and engagement.
To accomplish this, the ERSG program uses subject matter experts, guest speakers, and colloquia capable of addressing economic, political and security issues related to European and Russian institutions, governments, trends and processes. A primary focus of the group has been on establishing and developing a curriculum of elective courses focusing on the region. Currently, there are a number of regional courses addressing the history, economics and politics of the region, including coverage of NATO and the European Union. Over the past year, the ERSG has sponsored lectures from nationally renowned experts on Russia, NATO, and the European Union. It has taken a leading role in NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program to improve the Professional Military Education of Azerbaijan. Forthcoming initiatives of the ERSG include the development of a cooperative relationship with the Russian Naval War College (Kuznetsov Academy) in St. Petersburg. The ERSG is the principal vehicle through which the Naval War College’s special partnership with the U.S. European Command is implemented, providing academic and analytical support for the theater combatant commander.
Greater Middle East Group
Click to Open The Greater Middle East Research Study Group (GME RSG) is comprised of regional experts, civilian and military, whose collective academic research interests, operational experience, and professional careers focus on the most important strategic challenges within this region. The group advances the NWC educational mission through its dedication to three key areas: teaching, research, and international engagement. The GME RSG works closely with the college’s Greater Middle East area of study (AOS) in the resident electives program which seeks to ensure that resident mid-grade and senior military officers are offered a robust and cutting-edge elective curriculum through classroom instruction, independent research, and opportunities for engagement with the region. In cooperation with the other regional study groups, the GME RSG facilitates conferences, lectures, and workshops throughout the year that link our faculty and students with other communities of scholars and professionals outside the college in both government agencies and academic institutions such as the Watson Center for International Studies (Brown University), Belfer Center (Harvard University) and the Crown Center for Middle East Studies (Brandeis University.) Since 2006, the GME RSG has been instrumental in providing lectures of opportunity, faculty funding, professional development opportunities, and workshops and conferences on strategic challenges within the region. The GME RSG seeks to integrate the professional and intellectual capital of its affiliated faculty and student body with the college’s larger mission through curricular excellence, programmatic relevance, and community and international outreach on the critical region and nations of the Greater Middle East.
Indian Ocean Studies Group
Click to Open The Indian Ocean Studies Group (IOSG), comprised of faculty, staff, and students with an interest in the region, has a maritime focus that crosses U.S. government organizational and traditional land-centric geographic seams. The goal of the work of the study group is to examine issues and areas that may be relatively understudied and bring a uniquely maritime point of view to the region to provide valuable insights to policy makers and analysts in accordance with the educational mission of the Naval War College. The IOSG serves as the War College's principal forum for addressing a full range of Indian Ocean strategy and policy issues. The study group’s activities include group meetings; sponsorship of a visiting speakers program; dissemination of research in progress and publication of final research results; and workshops and conferences. The group has also been engaged in directly supporting senior DoD decision makers on strategic issues in the region.
Latin America Studies Group
Click to Open The Latin American Studies Group, comprised of faculty, staff and students with an interest in the region, coordinates the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of an extensive engagement program throughout the Latin American region. The group also shares perspectives on key political, economic and security issues in the region with a focus on understanding context and providing perspective on this dynamic and growing region of the world. This engagement program supports theater security cooperation activities of the U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Northern Command, their naval components, and the U.S. Navy.
The study group supports a variety of regionally-focused activities: conferences; wargames; research projects; faculty travel to conduct lectures, workshops, and curriculum reviews; and war college and faculty visits from the region to the Naval War College. Additionally, the group supports the Inter-American War Game and the Multilateral War Game involving over 14 countries from the region. Latin America Studies Group faculty also prepare and deliver lectures and short courses at naval war colleges, defense staffs, think tanks, and civilian universities throughout the region. The knowledge and regional understanding gained is brought back and incorporated into the college's core curriculum, electives, and research programs.
Faculty members teach the three electives in the Western Hemisphere / Latin American area of study. The electives provide a general overview of the government, geography and culture of the region, a more focused examination of security challenges in the region, and a study of regional economic trends to include case studies of significant economic events in modern Latin American history.
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