In the fall of 2009, the Elliott School launched the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies to advance scholarly research and graduate education, to improve public understanding of key international security issues, and to inform the development of national security policy.

The ISCS leverages George Washington's noteworthy strengths in international affairs, which include expertise in international relations theory, nuclear weapons and non-proliferation policy, key regions of the globe, and analysis of security policy. The Institute contributes to the Elliott School's already lively intellectual community by bringing faculty and graduate students together regularly in workshops that engage cutting edge research on policy-relevant international relations theory and security policy. Speakers will include GW faculty and graduate students, faculty from other leading universities, and experienced national-security practitioners.

The Institute pursues research in traditional and emerging areas of international security policy. Promising areas for future research include nuclear weapons policy — strategy, arms control and disarmament — and energy security, with a focus on implications of the rise of China and India for U.S. security. The ISCS supports public events that provide the GW community with the opportunity to hear experts address and debate current national security policy issues. A key vehicle for these efforts will be the Security Policy Forum, which has presented many successful events over the past couple of years.

The ISCS will serve as the institutional home for the Elliott School's Security Policy Studies M.A. program. The ISCS's longer-term goal is to expand its activities and network to become a major national hub for security studies.