The Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University is building on the school's existing expertise in security studies (the Schar School is ranked No. 2 by U.S. News & World Report in this category) with a new Graduate Certificate in Strategic Trade.
Strategic trade policy implies a strategic relationship between firms, countries, and export control regimes. It includes arms control, nuclear nonproliferation, and a variety of national security issues plaguing all nation states.
Adjunct professor Andrea Viski helped create the program along with Kenneth Reinert, program director of the prestigious Master’s in International Commerce and Policy program at the Schar School. As the founder and editor-in-chief of the Strategic Trade Review and founder and director of the Strategic Trade Research Institute, Viski brings a wealth of expertise to the role. After receiving her PhD from the European University Institute, Viski worked for the European Commission doing capacity building, radiological source security, interagency coordination, and other critical work involving the national security of the European Union.
Her professional experience inspired her to find her own journal and nonprofit research institution. “I decided to establish the Strategic Trade Review because I saw a need and did not want to wait for someone else to fill it,” she said. “There was no coordination or efficiency linking researchers working on strategic trade. The mission of the journal is to bring knowledge together and advance the state of the field.”
In teaching her strategic trade policy class at the Schar School, Viski expressed her excitement to revisit the readings that inspired her career and further interest in the field.
“I wanted to steer the class towards international law and nonproliferation,” she said. “This seemed like a new challenge and an opportunity to further education in strategic trade.”
International Commerce and Policy program director Ken Reinert said, "The new Certificate in Strategic Trade will help interested students and professionals pursue jobs in trade compliance, export controls, and dual-use trade controls in both the public and private realms.”
The strategic trade certificate program is the ninth graduate certificate in the Schar School’s portfolio of programs. Completion of the certificate requires five courses (15 credits), including one core course in Strategic Trade Controls, and the choice of four electives in a range of topics including nuclear nonproliferation, national security technology, illicit trade, arms control, and global trade relations.
“One of the academic benefits of the Schar School’s certificate programs is how easy it is to begin with a certificate, earn that credential to bolster your resume, and then continue your studies by pursuing a master’s degree with those five completed certificate courses counting towards your master’s program,” said Reinert. “That complimentary curriculum between the graduate certificate programs and master’s degree programs provides such value with time and tuition expense.”
The Master’s in International Commerce and Policy curriculum “is unique in how it explores international business, international relations, and public policy as interconnected and critical in the global economy,” Reinert said. “Unlike MBA or international business programs, this degree prepares you for a much broader range of careers in the world marketplace, and that adaptability will be critical to students as new technological, political, and cultural aspects of our world continue to change. We designed the Certificate in Strategic Trade with this same mindset—to position our students for career success in a rapidly evolving global economy.”
The Certificate in Strategic Trade will admit its first cohort of students for the Fall of 2020 semester. This program does not require GRE or GMAT test scores for admission. To learn more about the Schar School’s programs and how to apply, sign up for information here, or contact the Schar School’s Office of Graduate Admissions at schar@gmu.edu.