Beginning in Fall 2026, students in the Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) and Master of International Service (MIS) online programs at American University’s School of International Service (SIS) will have access to a new concentration in Security & Foreign Policy — a focused pathway covering war, state resilience, foreign policy institutions, diplomacy, and global governance.

The Security & Foreign Policy concentration merges the former United States Foreign Policy & National Security and Global Security concentrations into a single pathway. Security and foreign policy no longer operate in separate lanes, and neither should the training that prepares professionals to work in them. As security challenges become more interconnected with diplomacy, governance, and institutional decision making, employers increasingly need professionals who can operate across these domains rather than in isolation.

Claudia Hofmann, Executive Director of Online and Executive Programs, noted, "In today’s international environment, students need to understand more than security or foreign policy in isolation. They need to see how power, institutions, and decision making interact in practice. This concentration is designed to help them build that kind of applied fluency."

What the Concentration Covers

The curriculum is built around courses including Causes of War, Security from Inside the State, Global Dimensions and Challenges of Modern Diplomacy, and The Making of United States Foreign Policy. The coursework asks students to grapple with questions that matter in practice: Why do states go to war? How do governments identify and respond to threats from within? What drives foreign policy decisions, and who makes them? How does diplomacy hold — or fail to hold — when the international environment is under pressure?

Former Ambassador Piper Campbell, Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer and creator of Global Dimensions and Challenges of Modern Diplomacy, described the concentration’s approach this way, "These days, we see many references to 'great power politics' and a 'complex geopolitical environment,' but pundits don't unpack what these terms actually mean — let alone the policy implications of this rapidly evolving environment."

Campbell added, "The MAIR and MIS Security & Foreign Policy concentration brings together practitioners and academics to help students interpret, analyze, and operate within this changing context. This pathway provides concrete, real-world skills scaffolded with academic rigor."

The curriculum follows through on that. Across the concentration, students produce applied work such as policy memos, strategic assessments, and client-facing practicum projects. Graduates finish the program with work that demonstrates what they can do, not just what they know.

Where It Leads

The concentration prepares graduates for careers in government agencies, defense and intelligence, foreign ministries, multilateral organizations, think tanks, and political risk consulting. Common roles include policy analyst, foreign affairs specialist, intelligence analyst, and political risk consultant — positions where knowing how decisions get made matters as much as the analysis itself.

Available Starting Fall 2026

The Security & Foreign Policy concentration launches in Fall 2026, giving MAIR and MIS students a clearer pathway into work that sits at the intersection of global security, foreign policy, and institutional decision making. Current students interested in this pathway should connect with their academic advisor, and prospective students are encouraged to reach out to an admissions counselor to learn more about how it fits within their program plan.