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Courses at NPS

OS4621 / NS4721 Critical Infrastructure Analysis and Defense

OS4621 / NS4721 is a cross-listed course developed by Drs. David Alderson and Daniel Eisenberg to support the in-residence National Security Affairs Master's Curriculum 691 - Homeland Defense & Security. The premise of this course is straightforward: our dependence on critical infrastructures makes us vulnerable to both deliberate and non-deliberate events that can disrupt our physical, economic, and social welfare. This course develops the literacy and competencies necessary to analyze potential vulnerabilities and recommend realistic solutions for military and civilian infrastructure in the United States. Students gain experience evaluating infrastructure vulnerability through case studies on civilian and DoD systems and a course project. Fundamentally, this course is about answering the following questions:

  1. What is critical infrastructure? How do infrastructure assets connect and operate as systems to provide services like electricity, water, mobility, and telecommunications? How does our dependence on these critical infrastructure systems make us vulnerable to accidents, failures, and attacks?

  2. Who is involved in making infrastructure protection decisions? What policies, organizations, and regulations influence critical infrastructure operations and protection? What perspectives influence how vulnerabilities and threats are mitigated?

  3. How do we evaluate critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and what can be done to protect against them? How can we make sense of the likelihood and consequences of threats to identify critical infrastructure vulnerabilities across the US? What can be done in the short-term to mitigate against them? What are the long-term strategic goals for critical infrastructure protection? What needs to be done to get there?

Courses with Partners and Abroad:

The CID develops and delivers short courses on a variety of topics related to critical infrastructure resilience, energy security, and supply chain operations. These courses have been delivered to a variety of Navy, DOD, and NATO partners across the globe.

NATO - Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection & Resilience

Recent course offerings in partnership with NATO and the NPS Energy Academic Group include:

  • Energy Security Strategic Awareness, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany, 26-30 September 2016

  • Energy Security Strategic Awareness Course, Tbilisi, Georgia, 24-28 April 2017

  • Energy Security Strategic Awareness, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany, 25-29 September 2017

  • Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection, NATO-ICI Regional Centre, Kuwait City, 11-15 February 2018

  • Energy Security Strategic Awareness, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany, 24-28 September 2018

  • NATO Tabletop Exercise Coherent Resilience in Vilnius, Lithuania, 3-7 December 2018

  • Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection & Resilience, NATO-ICI Regional Centre, Kuwait City, 10-14 March 2019

  • Regional Energy Security Symposium. Tbilisi, Georgia, 15-19 April 2019

  • Advanced Regional Energy Security Symposium 2019 – Caucasus Baku, Azerbaijan, 1-5 July 2019

  • Energy Security Strategic Awareness, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany, 23-27 September 2019