Self-study Courses in Homeland Security

The Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security offers non-credit, self-study courses online. These courses are developed by the NPS CHDS teaching faculty and are derived from course content (lecture material and course readings) from the Center's homeland security master's degree curriculum. The courses, offered at no cost, are designed for homeland defense and security professionals who wish to enhance their understanding of key homeland security concepts and require the flexibility of self-paced instruction. NPS does not provide graduate credit for the courses; however, participants are encouraged to check with their professional associations regarding continuing education units/credits. Upon completing each course, participants can download a record of completion.

Four Courses Currently Available:  [other courses available soon]

Homeland Security in Israel

Since its creation in 1948, Israel has had to cope with ongoing periods of terrorism punctuated by periods of war. While this has been an unfortunate reality for Israeli citizens, it has enabled the Israeli authorities to develop a wealth of experience in homeland security policies and practices.

This course will focus on a range of preventive and response policies followed by Israel in the context of its counterterrorism and homeland defense policies. After a brief discussion of the nature of the terrorism threat facing the country, the course then focuses on the legal, organizational and strategic environments that affect Israeli policies before moving to discuss some of Israel's response policies in the context of the response agencies, medical system and the military's Homefront Command.

The Global Jihadi Threat

Islam is a faith of richness and complexity that has manifested itself over time in a broad variety of ways. Unfortunately, it is also used as the basis for the violent ideologies of the Global Jihad. Understanding the fundamentals behind the religion (as well as concepts such as Jihad), the background with respect to the Islamic community's relationship to the West, the position of Muslims in modern-day Western societies and the various permutations of extremist Islamic ideologies is critical in helping policy makers, law enforcement personnel and governmental administrators at various levels relate to Islam and Muslims in an informed manner while also being able to effectively counteract extremist activities and ideas.

This course will provide a brief introduction of the religion, its early history and schisms, the role of Jihad, Islam's relationship to the West and that of individual Muslims within Western countries and the ideologies of Islamic extremism.

• Module 1 focuses on the basic principles of Islam, the origins of the faith and role of the Prophet Muhammad and fundamental schisms.
• Module 2 focuses on the role of Jihad in Islam.
• Module 3 focuses on the historic relationship between Islam and the West and Muslim attempts to address and cope with the reality of contemporary Muslim weakness in the face of Western power.
• Module 4 focuses on the development of Islamic extremism from Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahab to Osama Bin Laden.
• Module 5 focuses on the role of Islam and Muslims in the West (particularly in Europe) and the problems involved in integration, which sometimes lead to social isolation and can help create an infrastructure for radicalization. The module also briefly outlines the radicalization process.

Critical Infrastructure: Vulnerability Analysis and Protection

Critical Infrastructure protection is one of the cornerstones of homeland security. While PDD-63 lists 8 sectors, the National Strategy for Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets lists 11 sectors: Water, Power & Energy, Information & Telecommunications, Chemical Industry, Transportation, Banking & Finance, Defense Industry, Postal & Shipping, Agriculture & Food, Public Health, and Emergency Services. For the purposes of this course, we have divided these into levels with Water, Power & Energy, and Information & Telecommunications forming the first - or foundational - level. Chemical Industry, Transportation, and Banking & Finance are assigned level 2, and the remaining sectors are designated level 3 infrastructures. These levels indicate dependencies - higher levels are dependent on lower levels. Thus we focus most attention on the most fundamental critical infrastructures. This course develops a network theory of vulnerability analysis and risk assessment called "model-based vulnerability analysis" used to extract the critical nodes from each sector, model the nodes' vulnerabilities by representing them in the form of a fault-tree, and then applying fault and financial risk reduction techniques to derive the optimal strategy for protection of each sector. At the completion of the course, students will be able to apply the model-based vulnerability technique to any critical infrastructure within their multi-jurisdictional region, and derive optimal strategies and draft policies for prevention of future terrorist attacks.

Technology for Homeland Security: Inspection and Detection Technologies

(Part 1 of a Technology in Homeland Security series.) In a race to detect and prevent future terrorist attacks, the US has accelerated spending and has brought together formerly disparate disciplines to produce cutting edge inspection and detection technologies used to protect against CBRNE attacks. "Nuclear physicists and bioforensics specialists now cooperate with the best brains in behavioral science to devise ways to reduce the threat of nuclear smuggling and suicide bombers." [1] These collaborate efforts are fueling rapid advances in inspection and detection technologies that are fundamentally reshaping how we detect and prevent terrorist attacks and if necessary how we will respond to both small and large scale incidents.

Inspection and detection technologies are strategic enablers that support Presidential Directive #8, "capability specific priority 3.2.3 Strengthen CBRNE Detection, Response, and Decontamination Capabilities." [2] This course focuses on technologies that enable the early detection of the presence, import, or transport of CBRNE materials.

The objective is to empower the student to influence the plans and actions of homeland security organizations in preventing and preparing for homeland security, homeland defense, and terrorism. Another primary objective of the course is to help the students recognize the possibilities of new technology and novel applications of policies or laws to address threats. The knowledge and skills acquired will make students more effective technology users and help them to recognize opportunities where the application of technology solutions can provide a strategic advantage and therefore make a contribution to homeland security.

[1] Popular Science - SPECIAL REPORT - Technology vs. Terrorism Stephen Handelman
[2] Interim National Preparedness Goal - Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8: National Preparedness

Note: the Research Methods lectures that used to be part of the self-study program are now openly available without a login. See the CHDS Resources page. Anyone is welcome to view these lectures.