New ASU master’s degree in war and strategy prepares future military leaders

TEMPE, Ariz. - From Tempe to the nation’s capitol, the Department of Defense has tapped Arizona State University to lead its Strategic Thinkers Program, offering a master’s degree in war and strategy.

"It’s our obligation as responsible citizens to study war in its depth, breadth and complexity — with an aim first of all toward avoiding it whenever possible. But then if war becomes necessary to prosecute it successfully and in accordance with the values of our nation," said ASU Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives Ryan Shaw.

Before he was an ASU professor, Shaw served as an Army officer and Army strategist.

"This program didn’t exist when I came through, but it’s exactly the type of thing that would have equipped me very well for the work I ended up doing," Shaw said.

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This isn’t just textbook learning. Although the program is based at the ASU campus in D.C., part of the curriculum involves studying certain battlefields and then actually going to visit them.

"Stand in the shoes or the boots of the decision makers – to get a much better feel for the consequences of these decisions in real time," Shaw said.

And advanced technology will allow students to recreate war scenarios using artificial intelligence.

"With the technology that we can bring to it, we can bring multiple iterations of that— tweak each of the variables and see how they play out," Shaw said.

The program was established in 2019 at Johns Hopkins University. When the contract was up for renewal, ASU applied and was selected by the Department of Defense.

"It is one of the more perilous geopolitical environments we’ve ever experienced. So this requires very careful decision-making and, again, that decision-making is best conducted when it is rooted in a firm understanding of history," Shaw said.

A program designed to prepare the leaders who will decide the future of American defense.

"Immediately following this assignment—they’ll be assigned to strategic billets. The ones who really have to reconcile the risks and perils of war with the national interest. So they’ll be in these key strategic advisory billets helping make decisions that guide the fate of the nation," Shaw said.