Politics 160A The War on Global Terrorism Fall 2016, Thursday, 5:00-7:50pm

Transcription

1 Instructor: Daniel Modricker Contact: Office: Olin-Sang 110 Office Hours: Thursdays 4pm -5pm Teaching Assistant: Matthew Isaacs Contact: Office: TBA Office Hours: TBA Politics 160A The War on Global Terrorism Fall 2016, Thursday, 5:00-7:50pm DRAFT Changes to readings and assignments may be made before the start of the semester. No Prerequisites: The class is open to all student in all majors but is particularly intended for juniors and seniors. Fulfills the following requirements: IGS: Governance, Conflict and Responsibility IMES: Elective Course in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies SS: School of Social Science Distribution Requirements Course Description: Terrorist attacks dominate headlines worldwide and form a critical focus of academic study and policy discourse. However, academics and policymakers alike remain unsure of the causes, effects, and practical solutions to terrorism. The course examines the modern phenomenon of terrorism with two overarching frameworks in mind. First, taking an actor-centered approach, the course asks students to explore the origins, logics, and outcomes of terrorism. What is terrorism? Who uses terrorism and why? What is the relationship between territory, geopolitics, and terrorist tactics? Can states use terrorism? Does terrorism work? Second, shifting to a policycentered approach, the course asks students to explore the politics and pitfalls of responding to terrorism. Who determines state responses to terrorism at home and abroad? What are the most effective counterterrorism tactics? How do terrorism experts develop policy recommendations? What sorts of political processes and power dynamics underlie this policymaking discourse? Geographic Focus Areas: At the beginning of the semester, each student will choose a specific geographical focus area associated with recent and recurrent terrorist activity. These focus areas will help students frame their research and analysis throughout the semester. Students will be asked to explore their area of focus through independent research outside of class. By the end of the semester, students are Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

2 expected to have a strong working knowledge of the politics and history of terrorism in their focus area, including the identity, motivations, and goals of major groups, and how these groups relate to the global war on terror. Students will incorporate this case-specific knowledge into course presentations, short papers, and the final research paper (see assignments section below). Potential geographical focus areas (with relevant terrorist groups) include but are not limited to the following: Afghanistan: The Taliban Chechen nationalist groups including Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Caucasus Emirate; Colombia: FARC; Germany: Red Army Faction RAF Israel/Palestine: Palestinian nationalist groups, including Hamas, PIJ, PFLF; Kurdish nationalist groups, including PKK; Lebanon: Hezbollah; Nigeria: Boko Haram; Northern Ireland: Irish nationalist groups IRA, INLA, along with Loyalists UDA, UVF Pakistan: Lashkar-e-Taiba Peru: Shining Path (SL); Philippines: Moro nationalist groups, including MNLF, MILF; Somalia: Al Shabaab Spain: Basque nationalist groups, including ETA; Sri Lanka: Tamil nationalist groups, including LTTE, PLOTE; Syria: ISIS/ISIL, Al-Nusrah Front Thailand: Patani secessionist groups, including BRN, GMIP; While conducting independent research on their focus area, students should consider consulting the following resources: Registry of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, US State Department: Global Terrorism Database, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START): Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University: National Counterterrorism Center: Learning Goals: This course aims to improve critical thinking and communication skills by asking students to approach the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism from a variety of critical theoretical lenses. Students will gain a strong understanding of the multiple definitions of terrorism, a nuanced understanding of the relationship between political activity and geospatial/geopolitical processes, and a critical awareness of the politics of discourse associated with terrorism, terror victims, and responses to terrorism. The course also aims to improve writing and research skills by encouraging students to critique and evaluate this topic in their own original research. Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

3 Substantively, the course aims to critically investigate the following questions: 1. How can we define terrorism? 2. What are the origins of modern terrorism and how can we understand its rapid spread? 3. What political processes and power dynamics influence our understanding of terrorism? 4. How does terrorism relate to broader geopolitical and geostrategic issues? 5. How does the policy and security community respond to terrorist incidents? What political dynamics are at play in policy discourse related to terrorism? 6. What lessons can be drawn from the history of terrorism around the world that can inform our responses to terrorism in the US? Course Requirements and Grading: Class Attendance, Participation, and Presentations (20% of final grade) Attendance is mandatory. Students must come to class prepared to discuss all assigned readings. Three absences will result in a lowering of your grade by one full letter. More than five unexcused absences will result in an F in the course. If you must miss class for a valid reason or have an emergency, please contact me (before the fact if possible!). Success in this four-credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.) Each student in the class will be required to give a presentation on one set of readings at some point during the semester. These presentations should be approximately 15 to 20 minutes and will consist of a brief overview of the substantive content of the week s readings, consideration of how the readings relate to the week s discussion questions, and a discussion of how the topic covered in these readings relates to the student s particular geographical focus area. A sign up sheet will be circulated at the beginning of the semester. One Short Papers (30% of final grade) Students will complete one concise paper not to exceed four double-spaced pages, excluding bibliographies. Students will receive a prompt in which they will be asked to write a very specific, articulate, and well-argued position on a topic covered in the course with reference to their geographic focus area. The short paper will be submitted through LATTE before class on Thursday, October 20. A More detailed assignment will be distributed as the semester progresses. Final Paper (50% of final grade) Students will complete a research paper not to exceed 15 double-spaced pages, excluding bibliographies. This paper is your chance to further investigate a topic covered in the course or to consider a relevant topic not covered in the course. Research papers must form a coherent theoretical argument and support this argument with case-specific information drawn from the student s focus area. In addition to the completed paper, students are required to submit a brief paper prospectus (one page, ungraded) in class on Thursday, November 3. This prospectus Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

4 must contain a research question and a preliminary bibliography to help you begin conducting research. The final paper is due on Monday, December 12 at noon. Disability Statement: If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability, please contact me and present your letter of accommodation as soon as possible. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, you should contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in Academic Services (x or brodgers@brandeis.edu.) Letters of accommodation should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively. Academic Integrity: Do not plagiarize. The university policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as part of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of suspected dishonesty will, without exception, be forwarded to the Office of Student Affairs for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the university. If you have any questions about this, please ask. Laptops and Cell Phones: Students are not allowed to use cell phones, laptops, or other recording devices of any kind in class unless a student s special circumstances have been cleared ahead of time. Class Schedule: This schedule provides topics, discussion questions, and readings to be covered each week. Discussion questions are meant to guide our conversations and inform your consideration of the readings. All required readings must be completed prior to class on the date listed. Supplementary readings are optional. All readings will appear on the course LATTE page. Note: There are no required textbooks for this class. August 25: Introduction What is terrorism? How do different types of actors (scholars, policymakers, the media) define terrorism? How does terrorism differ from insurgency or political violence? Smyth et al., Critical Terrorism Studies An Introduction, Critical Studies on Terrorism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April 2008), p Hoffman, Inside Terrorism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), p Weinberg, et al., The Challenges of Conceptualizing Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 16, No. 4 (2004), p Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

5 Jarvis, The Spaces and Faces of Critical Terrorism Studies, Security Dialogue, Vol. 40, No. 1 (2008), p Horgan and Boyle, The Case Against Critical Terrorism Studies, Critical Studies on Terrorism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April 2008), p Schmid and Jongman (eds.), Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2005). Tilly, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, Sociological Theory, Vol. 22, No. 1 (2004), p September 1: Methods and Goals of Terrorism Where is terrorism used? What are the most common goals of terrorist groups? What are the principle strategies of terrorism? Students will choose their geographic focus area today. Kydd and Walter, The Strategies of Terrorism, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 1 (2006), p Tucker, What s New about the New Terrorism and How Dangerous is it? Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2001), p Horowitz, Nonstate Actors and the Diffusion of Innovations: The Case of Suicide Terrorism, International Organization, Vol. 64, No. 1 (2010), p September 8: Why Use Terrorism? Why do individuals and groups resort to terrorism to achieve their goals? Are terrorist tactics (including suicide bombing) ever rational? Why are individuals willing to incur such costs to promote collective goals? Bloom, Outbidding, Market Share, and Palestinian Suicide Bombing, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 119, No. 1 (2004), p Pape, The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, American Political Science Review, Vol. 97, No. 3 (August 2003), p Bloom, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror (New York, Columbia University Press, 2005). Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

6 Chenoweth, Democratic Competition and Terrorist Activity, Journal of Politics, Vol. 72, No. 1 (January 2010), p Henne, The Ancient Fire: Religion and Suicide Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2012), p Lake, Rational Extremism: Understanding Terrorism in the Twenty First Century, International Organization, Vol. 56, No. 1 (2002), p Moghadam, Motives for Martyrdom: Al-Qaida, Salafi Jihad, and the Spread of Suicide Attacks, International Security, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Winter 2008/2009), p September 15: Who Uses Terrorism? What are the different types of terrorist groups? Do different types of terrorist groups differ in their strategies and effectiveness? Jansen, Daggers, Rifles and Dynamite: Anarchist Terrorism in Nineteenth Century Europe, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 16, No. 1 (2004), p Sanchez-Cuenca, The Dynamics of Nationalist Terrorism: ETA and the IRA, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2007), p Richardson, What Terrorists Want (New York: Random House, 2007). September 22: Religious Terrorism What makes terrorism religious? Are religious terrorists defined by their identities, their goals, their organizational affiliations, or their rhetoric? Is religious terrorism more deadly than secular terrorism? Rapaport, Fear and Trembling: Terrorism in Three Religious Traditions, American Political Science Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (1984), p Jackson, Constructing Enemies: Islamist Terrorism in Political and Academic Discourse, Government and Opposition, Vol. 42, No. 3 (2007), p Bergen et al., Assessing the Jihadist Terrorist Threat to America and American Interests, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2011), p Agnew, John A Not the wretched of the Earth: Osama bin-laden and the clash of civilizations. The Arab World Geographer, 4:2, pp Berman, Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011). Brachman, Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice (New York: Routledge, 2008), p Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

7 Piazza, Is Islamist Terrorism More Dangerous? An Empirical Study of Group Ideology, Organization, and Goal Structure, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2009), p Stern, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill (New York: Harper Collins, 2003). September 29: State and Proto-State Terrorism Do states use terrorism? Is the so-called Islamic State a terrorist group or a state (or both)? What about other proto-state terrorist groups (including FARC, Hezbollah, the LTTE, etc.)? Blakely, Bringing the State Back into Terrorism Studies, European Political Science, Vol. 6, No. 3 (September 2007), p Wilkinson, Can a State be Terrorist? International Affairs, Vol. 57, No. 3 (1981), p October 6: The Geography of Terrorism, 1 of 3 How does terrorism relate to territory? What, if any, are the territorial requirements of terrorist activity? Is terrorism a deterritorialized political strategy? How does the phenomenon of global terrorism influence our understanding of the international state system, including norms of territorial integrity and territorial sovereignty? Elden, Terror and Territory, Antipode, Vol. 39, No. 5 (2007), p Mustafa, The Terrible Geographicalness of Terrorism: Reflections of a Hazards Geographer, Antipode, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2005), p Agnew, The Territorial Trap: The Geographical Assumptions of International Relations Theory, Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1994), p Cutter et al. (eds.), The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism (New York: Routledge, 2003). October 13: The Geography of Terrorism, 2 of 3 Students to gain a sense of the nuances of different approaches to geography and how might those nuances contribute to our understanding of terrorism. From cultural and economic Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

8 globalization, international development and geopolitics to national policies on nation building to local level nuances of gender, social power and resource distribution. Hobbs, The Geographical Dimensions of Al Qaida Rhetoric, Geographical Review, Vol. 95, No. 3 (2005), p Flint and Radil, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Situating Al Qaida and the Global War on Terror Within Geopolitical Trends and Structures, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol. 50, No. 2 (2009), p Mitchell, Social Violence in Northern Ireland, Geographic Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (1979), p Mustafa and Brown, Geographies of Performative Politics and Terror in Pakistan, Eurasian Geography and Politics, Vol. 51, No. 4 (2010), p October 20: The Geography of Terrorism, 3 of 3 Compare and contrast classical and critical geopolitics and their implications for security studies and threat perception, specifically as it pertains to frontiers of state boundaries. Analysis of longstanding ideas and concepts, that reemerge as new strategies and perceptions. This will encourage students to think beyond the state-centric perspectives of the international order. Short paper due today before class. Submit online through Latte. Dodds, K., 2000, Geopolitics in a changing world, Prentice Hall, Harlow Elden, S., 2005, Missing the point: globalization, deterritorialisation and the space of the world. Transaction of the Institute of British Geographers, 30 (1), O-Tuathail, G., (2010) Localizing geopolitics: Disaggregating violence and return in conflict regions, Political Geography, 29: pp Ettlinger, N. and F. Bosco., Thinking through networks and their speactiality: A critique of the US War on Terrorism and is geographic discourse. Antipode, 36(2): October 27: Media Coverage of Terrorism How does the popular media discuss terrorism in the United States? What about social media? Does media coverage of terrorism influence popular opinion? What explains the gap between popular opinion about terrorism and academic knowledge? Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

9 Friedersdorf, Why the Reaction is Different When the Terrorist is White, The Atlantic (August 8, 2012). Bidgood, Link to Marathon Bombing Rattles City Known for Its Tolerance, The New York Times (June 4, 2013). November 3: Responses to Terrorism, 1 of 3: The Policy World How can the public respond to terrorism? What sorts of actors and institutions exist outside government and how do those actors operate? Do think tanks provide objective policy recommendations? Jones and Libicki, How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering Al Qaida (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008). November 10: Responses to Terrorism, 2 of 3: Government Which entities in the US government respond to terrorism and how? What role does bureaucratic politics play in US counterterrorism policy? Can the US improve its responses to terrorism without curtailing civil liberties? Final paper prospectus due today. Mueller, Six Rather Unusual Propositions About Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 17, No. 4 (2005), p Betts et al., Comments On Mueller, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 17, No. 4 (2005), p November 17: Responses to Terrorism, 3 of 3: Counterterrorism What are the principles strategies of counterterrorism in theory? In practice, how effective are these strategies? Pol 160A Syllabus Fall

10 Cronin, How Al Qaida Ends: The Decline and Demise of Terrorist Groups, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Summer 2006), p Art and Richardson (eds.), Democracy and Counterterrorism: Lessons from the Past (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007). NOVEMBER 24: NO CLASS THANKSGIVING December 1: Conclusion How can we improve our understanding of terrorism and responses to terrorism? FINAL PAPER DUE MONDAY, DECEMBER 12 AT NOON. Pol 160A Syllabus Fall