The National Defense Course is a synergetic study program aimed to qualify national policy makers in the areas of policy, strategy, and decision-making through a general, objective, and well-defined methodology that deals with significant aspects of strategic planning and the formation of national objectives and interests, then devising the necessary strategies and policies that are executed within the national framework with all its components.

The National Defense Program is not a military program, even though it is held under the umbrella of the Armed Forces. Rather, it is a national program that deals with the elements and components of national security with all its dimensions, whether political, economic, military, social, informational, technical, or otherwise. The program delves into these issues, analyzes and evaluates them, and seeks to integrate them within a framework of a synergetic national system that takes into account the pressures of international politics, the impacts of political geography, and the nature of structural limitations posed by the national economy.

In its philosophy, the program aims to point out that future national policy makers should realize that statecraft is not the task of an individual or a limited number of individuals in the political system of the state, but it is a national responsibility that is shouldered by the whole apparatus of the state. All elements and organizations in this huge apparatus should carry this responsibility and each component should carry out its well- defined role effectively and objectively. If such mechanism does not work harmoniously, national policy will remain lacking in efficiency in planning and seriousness in execution.

Theoretically, the national decision should be built particularly on the strategic considerations that can achieve the national objectives and interests. However, the Jordanian prominent national decisions – especially those related to war, peace, forming alliances, signing agreements, etc. – have been impacted by international policies, regional limitations, and national economic resources meagerness. Future policy makers should understand the nature of these interactions and the depth of their impact on forming the strategies in all stages of planning at such level.

They should lay the foundations of a deep understanding of all considerations of politics, economy, geography, environment, society, sciences, modern technology and their intertwining effects in designing national policies. This does not mean that such planners should be experts in every field, but that they should be equipped with a clear understanding of the relationship that exists between strategy and economy or geography or any other field. As such, the subjects studied through the National Defense Program do not deal with economics, management, or administration in isolation but they do so from the perspective of their relationship with the national security and the requirements of strategic planning for national policies.

Defense and security of the state constitute the backbone of the philosophy of the course, its concept, and its curricular plan. Moreover, national security revolves around two main axes: defense and security. Defense is mainly the responsibility of the Armed Forces with the other political, social, and economic agencies and organizations within the state apparatus assuming supporting roles. As for security, on the other hand, the situation is reversed as those agencies and organizations play the key roles and the Armed Forces take the supporting role. National security is certainly a state of stability and political, social, and economic prosperity.

Any flaw in this posture may threaten the internal security. Therefore, whether taken singly or collectively, poverty, unemployment, limited resources, recession in the annual National Gross Product (NGP), inflation, high population growth rate, water problem, and stumbling development programs pose a real challenge to the state of stability and prosperity in the country, beneath which challenge may lie serious threats to the internal security. Obviously, dealing with this type of challenge is not the responsibility of the Armed Forces or the Public Security; it is a specialized task of the various Government organizations, each in its own capacity. With this in view, all Governmental elements are organic tools in the body of the overall national system.

In order for the students to become well versed in these vital topics, the National Defense Course will try to clearly show the importance of the network of national relations that are essential for both defense and security matters. It will also show the necessity of integrating the general efforts and the various power elements within one national framework that will, consequently, contribute to the achievement of the national goals. In the meantime, it will also put forward clear-cut strategies that help achieve specialized objectives that will have positive impacts on the requirements of the overall national security.


Study groups

National Defense Program consists of eight Blocks:

CREDIT HOURS	STUDY GROUP	SER. No.
6	First Study Group: Strategy and Statecraft	1.
9	Second Study Group: Jordanian National Security	2.
3	Third Study Group: Management of National Defense	3.
6	Fourth Study Group: International Relations	4.
6	Fifth Study Group: National Economy in Security and Defense	5.
3	Sixth Study Group: Strategic Management	6.
3	Seventh Study Group: Geopolitics	7.
9	Eighth Study Group: Master Degree Thesis	8.
45	TOTAL CREDIT HOURS