The
INTDIS 294i, Fitzelle 410
T,Th 10-11:15 SCHU 109 PH#3923/E=conwaypg
Office: T,Th
What do we mean by the term terrorism? What kinds of terrorism exist and how do
terrorists differ in their backgrounds, motivations, and practices? Can
terrorism be stopped? What can be done to discourage terrorism and limit or minimize
the destructive consequences of terrorism?
How can we explain the growth
of religious terrorism? Do concepts such as ideology or religious
fundamentalism help explain the behavior of some mass murderers? How can we explain the development of groups
such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda and others?
Why are they so antagonistic to the
One book and several reprints of articles will be distributed
in class:
Cindy C. Combs, Terrorism
in the Twenty-First Century (Prentice Hall, 3d ed. 2003)
Recommended supplementary readings:
Christian Caryl,
“Why Suicide Bombers Do It” The
Mark Juergensmeyer,
Terror in
the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (
Fouad Ajami, "What the Muslim World is Watching", New York Times Magazine,
Peter L. Bergen, Holy War
Inc: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden,
NY: Free Press 2001.
Caleb Carr, Lessons of
Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why it has always failed
and
why it will fail again
John K. Cooley, Unholy
Wars:
Paul Goodman, Terror and Liberalism (2003 book summarized
at http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V12/18/berman-p.html)
Larry Goodson.
Brian Michael Jenkins, Countering
Peter C. Sederberg,
Terrorist Myths: Illusion, Rhetoric, and Reality NJ: Prentice Hall,
1989.
Jonathan R. White, Terrorism:
An Introduction (3rd edition),
Joseph Lelyveld, "All Suicide Bombers Are Not Alike,” New
York Times Magazine,
Bill Keller, “The 40-Year
(Cold) War" New York Times, (Op-Ed)
Salmon Rushdie, “Yes, This Is
About Islam,”New York Times,
Michael
Scott Doran, “Somebody Else’s Civil War,” Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2002;
p.22.
Michael Howard, “Whats in a Name? How to Fight Terrorism,”
Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2002; p 8.
Seymour M. Hersh, “King’s Ransom: How Vulnerable are
the Saudi Royals?" The New Yorker,
Tim Judah,
“The Center of the World,”
Charles
Glass, “The Great Lie” and "Balfour, Weizmann
and the Creation of Israel,” London Review of Books,
Joe Klein, "Closework: Why we couldn’t see what was right in front of
us" The New Yorker,
See also http://www.terrorismanswers.com/home/
and Center for Defense Information terrorism project
at www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist.cfm
GRADES
One quiz:
The
quiz grade will only count if it can be used to improve your grade (if that
grade is higher than your one test grade that concludes this minicourse). In that case the quiz grade(s) will count
for one third of the overall grade. (The quiz will be based on all assigned
readings as of April 24)
One
test
The one test can provide 1/3,
2/3, or 100% of your overall grade for this minicourse;
You may choose to do an optional assignment described
below
Optional
assignment/presentation
You
may select two groups that engage in activities generally regarded as terroristic and compare them. One useful list is provided
by the Center for Defense Information: www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist.cfm The sources you use
must be analytic, scholarly periodicals such as those listed below. (Any other sources must be approved by the
instructor.)You may be asked to comment on your findings in class. You must sign up for the
assignment and indicate what sources you are using prior to submitting your
essay on April 29. None can be accepted after that day. If you take this option
the assignment will count for one third of your course grade. The periodical
sources that you use must be from the list below the outline for this course
Sign up for the groups and cite articles that you will use. (I will bring the
list to class and post it on my office door) On the essay you submit include
the full citations, with author, title, name of periodical, volume, date, and
pages. (If you use the
Suggestions: Ask yourself
why you are interested in the subject and what you expect to get from the
articles you selected. Before you read the articles ask yourself: What do you
know and what don’t you know about the groups? What do you hope to learn? Then
read carefully and take notes. At that point, after you have finished the
articles ask yourself what you learned, what new questions you consider most
important and why you have a positive or negative reaction to the articles.
Emphasize what you don’t know (new questions) even more than what you feel you
do know about the subject.
This comparative essay is a personal think piece or
reaction paper. It should be 3-4 pages (typed and double spaced), no longer.
Don’t refer to the writing style of the authors or the readability of the
articles. You must select articles that you find readable in the first place.
Your only concern should be with the substance, i.e., the content of the
articles and how the two groups compare, in relation to concepts and terms used
in class and in Combs’ introduction to the subject of terrorism. Do not
summarize the articles (beyond a paragraph or two). Discuss how the articles
influenced your thinking about the issue. The articles should provide a point
of departure or frame of reference for you to express your thoughts and
questions about terrorism.
Tentative outline with dates, topics and questions,
readings
Date Topics
and questions Readings
April 3 Terrorism: What is it? Why does a definition matter?
Is it a modern phenomenon? What do ideologies have to do with terrorism?
CCC
1-32
Palestinians – the PLO, Hamas
and
8 Religion and terrorism: How is terrorism different
today? What kinds of people become terrorists?
More background on the Isreali-Palestinian
conflict CCC
to p.34-66; 209-212
10
“Street”
Wahhabism
as “fundamentalist”. CCC
71-94
22 International law and organization CCC
185-203; 222-238
24 (Q)
The resistance to American
hegemony: Who is
29 (A) Domestic
terrorism CCC
159-183
May 1
Counterterrorism, threats to democratic values, conclusions. CCC207-221
257-272; 275-286
May 8 TEST (Thursday,
Objective and fill in items plus: How should terrorism
be defined? Does a definition matter? Why? (Explain your thoughts in relation to
what has been covered in this course.) Why has terrorism become more of a
problem for the
Explain your own definition of terrorism and make it clear how terrorism can be distinguished from phenomena such as guerrilla warfare, sabotage, and perfidy.
Is the “war on terrorism” primarily a military struggle or an ideological ”struggle for hearts and minds”, as the Cold War has been depicted? Explain your answer.
Periodical
sources for the optional assignment:
Annals
of the American
Bulletin
of the Atomic Scientists Center
for Defense Information Commentary
Comparative
Politics Current History Foreign
Affairs Foreign
Policy
Harpers
International
Security International
Organization International
Affairs (
Journal
of Conflict Resolution Journal of
Politics Nation National
Review
New
York Review of Books New York Times
Book Review Orbis
Parameters (publication of the
Political
Science Quarterly Polity Public
Interest
World
Policy Journal (H) World Politics
|
From the Center for Defense Information and the |
|
The U.S. State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) began in 1997 as a method of tracking and taking
action against terrorist groups around the world. FTOs
are groups that either engage in or have the capacity or intent to carry out
terrorist activity that threatens
Below is the current list of FTOs (as of
Abu Nidal
Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf
Group Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade
Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) Armed Islamic Group (GIA) Asbat
al-Ansar
Aum
Shinrikyo Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
East Turkestan
Islamic Movement (ETIM) HAMAS (Islamic Resistance
Movement)
Harakat
ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Hizbollah
(Party of God)
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
(IMU) Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JEM) (Army of Mohammed)
al-Jihad
(Egyptian Islamic Jihad) Kahane Chai (Kach)
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Lashkar I
Jhangvi (LIJ) Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Mujahedin-e
Khalq Organization (MEK) National
Liberation Army (ELN) Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine (PFLP)
PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
al Qaeda
Real IRA
Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)
Revolutionary Organization 17
November Revolutionary People’s Liberation
Front
Salafist
Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
Special Purpose Islamic Regiment
(SPIR) United Self-Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC)
Communist Party of the
Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI)
For more information about terrorists and terrorist organizations refer to the
following:
U.S.
Treasury list pursuant to Executive Order 13224
Specially
Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), which is
incorporated in the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked
Persons
FBI
list of Most Wanted Terrorists
United
Nations list pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions 1267, 1333, and 1390
Background
On
Terrorist Exclusion List
Designees
Designated on