The course focuses on multi-agency collaboration in support of national and homeland security and national preparedness planning, decision-making and implementation. It examines current and proposed strategies, means and models for substantially improving the effectiveness of collaboration at the federal, state and local levels, and beyond to include multilateral situations with non-governmental, media, and international organizations and coalition partners. The course assists students to synthesize the underlying principles that define effective collaboration, and critical lessons learned from past challenges and current experiments. Legal, budgetary, structural, cultural and other impediments that inhibit inter-agency mission effectiveness are assessed, as are strategies for addressing them. The course explores evolving network structures, collaborative tool-sets including social media, cross-boundary information-sharing and work processes, emergent governance arrangements, and the behaviors and skills of collaborative leadership as a key component of government strategic leadership.