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Special Needs | Terrorism Index & Notes | 9/11 Report: Lewis's & Arnett's Outlines | World Affairs Council | What's New?
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Reporters |
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PART 1: POLITICS OF TERRORISM Nicholas Schmidle, "Getting Bin Laden: What happened that night in Abbottabad." The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2011NEW Jon Boone, "US helicopter shot down in Afghanistan was sent in after night raid went awry," The Guardian, 8 Aug. 2011NEW Is it ever justified to invade the territory of a sovereign state? Can it be justified to shoot dead an unarmed man? Under what circumstances is it justified to shoot an unarmed woman? When is it justified to risk the lives of larger forces to rescue a smaller number who are under attack? What are the basic tactics of the air assault, and what are the Taliban counter-measures? Should the CIA and special forces be integrated -- or separated? What are the risks of each? Which is more likely to succeed: the high tempo of CT raids in the short term, or the slow COIN process? Is it likely that OBL was being protected -- not hunted -- by Pakistani forces? |
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- - - Abby 
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| The US
Awakens to Terrorism: Al Qaeda's attacks upon the United States
9/11 Report: Summary 01. We Have Some Planes To what degree was the US vulnerable to the 9/11 attacks? In what way did the hijackers exploit US systems of public transport? To what degree did the immediate US response show preparedness? In what ways did US personnel respond with improvisation and informal coordination? To what degree did the open society of the US leave us vulnerable? In what ways did agency "stove piping" leave us vulnerable? |
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Sam
Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs, Summer
1993 [Summary]
[notes]
[WKPD]
[Map]
[Archived]
Has the clash
of civilizations gone so far as to replace the clash of nation states?
Why would cultural clashes go so far as wars? Is the Islamic world actually unified as a civilization? "Maps of War" (animated timeline of religions' development) |
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| Al
Qaeda's attacks upon the United States
9/11 Report: Summary 02. Foundation of the New Terrorism 03. Counterterrorism Evolves How did AQ's new form of terrorism evolve, and from what stimulus? How did US CT evolve, and did it evolve fast enough? By Sep 2001, how did the Clinton and Bush administrations compare in their approaches to CT? |
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- Paul
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04.
Responses to Al Qaeda's Initial Assaults
05. Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland 06. From Threat to Threat What did the US's initial responses tell us about the US CT system? To what degree is the attack upon the homeland different from attacks upon US targets in Africa or Yemen? How well did the US system prepare for a shift of targets to US soil? |
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| Margaret
Guroff, "The Wrong Man," Johns Hopkins Magazine, 31 Aug. 2011 NEW
How
should information be extracted from captives?
Is torture permissible if it works? When is it permissible for an official to reveal organizational wrong-doing? |
Paul
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| 9/11
Commission's Report:
07. The Attack Looms 08. The System Was Blinking Red 09. Heroism & Horror How long did AQ take in the planning stages of the attacks? Were there sufficient warnings for the Bush administration to take prior action? How well did initial responders cope with the assaults? |
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John
Jesse
Parker |
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| Richard
Clarke's memo to national security adviser Condi Rice, about Al Qaida,
on 25 Jan. 2001 - on NSA Facebook and on
NSA Web (in more depth)
Did the incoming W. Bush administration have any warning of the seriousness and urgency of the threat from Al Qaida? |
Ariel
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9/11
Report: Recommendations
10.
Wartime
11. Foresight -- and Hindsight 12. What to Do? A Global Strategy 13. How to Do It? A Different Way of Organizing the Government Did the US need to make a transition from law enforcement to wartime? Should the US have foreseen terrorist attacks? Did the US need to reorganize intelligence and law enforcement agencies? Did the US need law enforcement and intelligence agencies to communicate? Did the 9/11 attacks justify infringement on civil liberties? How many of the recommendations have been implemented? |
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Matt
Trace
Brandon
BrittneyXX |
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Violence
& Terrorism
Badey
(ed),
Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism '10-11 Questions
1. How to Define Terrorism, Joshua Sinai,
2008
2. What Makes a
Terrorist?, Alan Krueger, 2007
3. Myth
of the Invincible Terrorist, Christopher C. Harmon, 2007 (notes)
Does the concept of terrorism predate the modern era? In what ways is AQ's terrorism a new phenomenon? What causes terrorism? How is it changing? How are millennial or religious groups different from nationalist groups? |
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John
Zach
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| Philip
Shenon, "The Terrible Missed Chance," Newsweek 12 Sep. 2011NEW[Dbx]
Andrew Sullivan, "Did Osama Win? Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2011 NEW [Dbx] Elisabeth Bumiller, "Soldier, Thinker, Hunter, Spy," NY Times, 4 Sep. 2011 NEW [Dbx] |
Abby
Brandon
Parker |
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Badey
(ed), Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism
'10-11 Questions
UNIT
2. Tactics of Terrorism
4. From the H-Bomb to the Human Bomb, André Glucksmann, 2007 5. The Al Qaeda Weapons Race Continues, Ed Blanche, 2008 6. Terrorism and Extortion, Dean C. Alexander, 2008NEW 7. Toy Soldiers: The Youth Factor in the War on Terror, Cheryl Benard, 2007 How do terrorists prey on a target society? Who are likely targets of assassination? How have terrorist groups responded to the decline in state funding? In what ways is AQ's terrorism based on new tactics? What are the misperceptions of suicide bombing? |
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- Trace
Jesse
Will
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Badey
(ed), Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism
'10-11 Questions
UNIT
3. State-Sponsored Terrorism
9.
Iran's Suicide Brigades, Ali Alfoneh, 2007
8. Rogue Operators, Daniel Byman, 2008 10. The Growing Syrian Missile Threat: Syria after Lebanon, Lee Kass, 2005 11. Chávez Bides His Time, William Ratliff, 2008 How do states support terrorism? With what instruments? How can a state defend against state or non-state terrorists? |
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- Matt
Paul X - Ariel
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Badey
(ed), Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism
10-11 Questions
UNIT
4. International Terrorism
12. Trail of Terror, Michael Petrou, 2008 13. Peace at Last?, Joshua Hammer, 2007 14. Tamil Tiger Trap, Jason Motlagh, 2008 15. In Europe, Where's the Hate?, Gary Younge, 2008 OLD 12.Wounded but Still Dangerous, The Economist, 2007 OLD 13. Peace at Last? Joshua Hammer, 2007 TEST1: Wednesday, Covering all the above. A mixture of multiple choice, paragraphs, and an essay. |
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Badey
(ed), Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism
'10-11 Questions
16.
Incidents of Terrorism in the United States, 1997–2005, Samuel Nunn, 2007
17. The Year in Hate: Number of Hate Groups Tops 900, David Holthouse, 2009 18.
Green Rage, Matt Rasmussen, 2007
19.
When Activists Attack: Companies Square Off against Animal Rights Groups,
2008
20.
White-Pride Mom, Chris Selley, 2008
Is there really an alternative international society of terrorism? How do terrorist groups operate within the United States? Is it moral to set free animals imprisoned for research purposes? What US groups should be included among terrorists? |
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UNIT
6. Terrorism and the Media
OLD
22. Violent Episode in the Virtual World, John Gray, 2005
21. The Al-Qaeda Media Machine, Philip Seib, 2008 22. Nets of Terror: Terrorist Activity on the Internet, Paul Piper, 2008 23. Jihad with a Hip-Hop Pose Is an Easier Sell with Youth, Andrew Potter, 2008 24. The Globe of Villages: Digital Media and the Rise of Homegrown Terrorism, Feisal G. Mohamed, 2007 25. Congress and the "YouTube War", Michael A. Cohen and Maria Figueroa Küpçü, 2007 OLD 23. Terror's Server, David Talbot, 2005 OLD
25. Congress and the YouTube War, Cohen and Kupcu
The Portuguese Waterboard Dog, cartoon by Peter Brookes, The Times (UK) online, 2009 How do international terrorist groups exploit the western mass media? To protect us from terrorism, should governments restrain the communications media? How should the media cover terrorism? How will media developments of the future affect the opportunities for terrorism? |
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Will
Parker
Ariel
Paul
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Badey
(ed), Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism
'10-11 Questions
26.
Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic Fascism, Dale Eikmeier, 2007
27. In Search of Moderate Muslims, Joshua Muravchik and Charles Szrom, 2008 28. The Madrassa Scapegoat, Peter Bergen and Swati Pandey, 2006 What did Qutb argue, and why was he redicalized? Who did Qutb influence, and what is his role among Islamic terrorists? How are terrorist groups connected to fundamentalist religion? To what degree are fundamentalist Islamic schools a cause of terrorism? What US surveillance or restrictions should be imposed on religion to prevent terrorism? Should the US encourage separation of church and state abroad? |
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- Paul
J.Phillips
Brandon
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30.
Bomb Under the Abaya, Judith Miller, 2007
31. Picked Last: Women and Terrorism, Alisa Stack O'Connor, 2007 How do international terrorist groups exploit females? Why were so few women emploiyed as terrorists in past decades? How should counter terrorism target the genders? Do women employ a different rhetoric of terrorism? How are young girls exploited in African wars? |
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Badey
(ed),
Annual Editions: Violence and Terrorism '10-11Questions
32. Knowing the Enemy, Ariel Cohen,
2007
33. Are We Ready Yet?, Christopher Conte, 2005 34. Intelligence and the War on Terror: How Dirty Are We Willing to Get Our Hands?, James M. Olson, 2008 35. Air Security: Why You're Not as Safe as You Think, 2008. How
should counter terrorist officials operate within the United States?
To what degree
has the US secured major vulnerabilities since 2001?
How should counter terrorist officials co-operate with those abroad? Is the CT war counter-productive in India & Pakistan? |
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- Will
Matt
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Paul |
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| UNIT
10. Future Threats
36. The Shifting Face of Violence, Theodor H. Winkler, 2008 37. The Next Generation of Terror, Marc Sageman, 2008 38. Al Qaeda at 20 Dead or Alive?, Peter Bergen, 2008 OLD 38. From the War on Terror to Global Counterinsurgency, Bruce Hoffman, 2006 How will the war against terrorism evolve? Will the war on terrorism last a whole generation or just five years? How has Al Qaeda mutated since 2001? Can the US match its changes? How can one answer the old question, "Why us?" |
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Brandon
J.Dean
Brittney
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Terrorism
and Counter Terrorism (CT)
Col. Russell Howard,
Presentation to
AWAC, Tue 8 Nov. '05,
on modern terrorism.
What (before 2001) would be needed for the US to face up to terrorism? How are modern international terrorists better than their predecessors? In what sense are Americans part of the problem for CT? |
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| JRT
Lewis [Slide] Legal
constraints on Interrogations
Notes on US policy on interrogations and torture How does US and international law constrain the US from using torture? Pew global attitudes survey, July 2005, attitudes to Islamist terrorism. [Chart and summary by Dr. Lewis] How do nations support or oppose Islamist terrorism? Should the Bush administration have assuaged world opinion? Has the Bush administration's war in Iraq been counter-productive? |
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Inserted
when feasible, not tested unless shown |
Beslan:
Siege of School No.1 (PBS, Wide Angle film)
PBS notes on the film [massacre, 1 Sep. 2004, Ingushetia, the Caucasus] For detailed map, click here and use zoom (e.g. can see Beslan in Ingushetia, just up & to left of label "North Ossetia") What is the cause of this conflict? What are the stakes? Who tries to negotiate, and with what authority? What is the prospect for a negotiated solution? What CT response techniques go wrong or are missing? |
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| TEST2:
Monday,
Covering all the above, except any film not shown. A
mixture of multiple choice, paragraphs, and an essay. Note: moved from
Wednesday to de-conflict it from another class's test.
Thinking about Less Developed World Evolution of LDC Politics Political Culture Political Participation Weak States Public policy: Myths and realities of Development How can we properly compare nations and states? What are the proper units and benchmarks of comparison? How can we analyze a moving target? What themes can we use for comparison? What neutral point is there to begin our comparison? |
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| Comparison
of capitalist, Social Dem. and communist countries, using CIA World Factbook:
Which types are richer (higher per capita income at PPP)? India is a large, capitalist country and China a large, officially 'communist' country: compare them. See GDP per cap table Which are more unequal in incomes? Is equality a goal of states? See Gini index rankings: 25 is low inequality, 50+ is high |
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| Hauss 8:
Current and Former Communist Regimes | Discussion
Notes
Thinking About Communism Socialism, Marxism, Leninism The Marxist-Leninist State The Crisis of Communism: Suicide by Public Policy Transitions Troubled Transitions: The Former Soviet Union Questions based on the text: Why should there be any nostalgia for past communist regimes? Why should former communist parties attract voters in new democracies? What was the role of Gorbachev in the transition from communism? What did perestroika and glasnost mean to Russians? Are there any truly Marxist countries left? In what way does thinking about communist regimes expose our assumptions about government? What are the tenets of Socialism, Marxism and Leninism? What was democratic centralism? A command economy? How did Orwell's Animal Farm satirize Stalin? How are liberals and socialists divided on the means of production? equality of outcome? the spread of democracy? What to Marx are the economic base? contradictions? superstructure? need for revolution? More general questions: How do Socialism, Marxism and Leninism differ? What was missing from Socialism that Marx sought to add? What was missing from Marxism that Lenin sought to add? How did Lenin seek to turn theory into practice? Why did communist regimes decline and fall in the 1980s? Why did Russia not develop smoothly (economically and politically) post 1989? |
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| Hauss 9: Russia |
Discussion
Notes | Maps of Asia | Maps
of Russia NEW
Russia's rankings in CIA World Factbook Thinking About Russia The Evolution of the Russian State Between Dictatorship and Democracy Political Culture and Participation The Russian State Public Policy What was the history of Russian political institutions before 1917? Why did Bolsheviki overturn the Russian state? How did Stalin replace Lenin in control of the state? Who should control the nation state? If the State works for the people, why is there a need to restrain it? Why did Marxist-Leninist regimes fail to develop economically alongside other regimes? |
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10: China | Asian Maps | Discussion
Notes |
Questions on Joseph's textbook (discontinued) China's rankings in CIA World Factbook Thinking about China Evolution of Chinese Politics Political Culture Political Participation Chinese State Public policy Comparing Chinese and Russian communism in power: Discussion Notes How does China's heritage affect development? How did China awake to the modern age? How did Maoism take root in China? What were the effects of the civil war on China? How did communism constrain China's modern development? How did the CCP open up economics to market forces? |
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12: India | Maps
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India's rankings in CIA World Factbook Thinking about India Evolution of Indian Politics Political Culture Political Participation Indian State Public policy How does India's heritage affect development? How did India achieve independence? How did India forge a nation? What were the after effects of colonialism? What resources could India exploit for development? Does India show that development is compatible with open democracy? |
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16: Latin America |
Maps |
Discussion
Notes
Mexico | Maps | Discussion Notes Mexico's rankings in CIA World Factbook Thinking about Mexico Evolution of the Mexican State Political Culture Political Participation The Mexican State Public Policy How does Mexico's heritage affect development? How did Mexico achieve independence? How did Mexico forge a nation? What were the after effects of colonialism? What resources could Mexico exploit for development? Does Mexico show that development is compatible with open democracy? How is Mexico affected by proximity to the US? |
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| Hauss 15: Africa
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Nigeria | Maps | Discussion Notes Nigeria's rankings in CIA World Factbook Thinking about Nigeria Evolution of the Nigerian State Political Culture and Participation The Nigerian State Public Policy How does Nigeria's heritage affect development? How did Nigeria achieve independence? How did Nigeria forge a nation? What were the after effects of colonialism? What resources could Nigeria exploit for development? Does Nigeria show that development is compatible with open democracy? |
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| The
Middle East | Maps | Persia and Arabia
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Wide Angleor Frontline World documentary film Are the issues and problems very different outside the US? PBS, The House of Saud | Maps of Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia's rankings in CIA World Factbook Why did Saudi Arabia become Wahhabist? By what bargain did the US exploit Saudi oil? What tensions have occurred in the US-Saudi relationship? |
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| Speech
of Amb. Ryan Crocker to AWAC, 3 Nov. '09
(Amb. Crocker has been envoy to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) How can we define the Middle East? How do Middle Eastern countries view our engagements in the region? How should we begin -- or end-- any engagement? |
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Iran's
rankings in CIA World Factbook
The Basics
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| Thanksgiving week: no classes | ||
| Hauss 14: Iraq | Maps
of Iraq | Discussion Notes
Iraq's rankings in CIA World Factbook Fiasco Thinking About Iraq Basics Evolution Iraq Under Saddam The State Under Saddam Public Policy The Third War and the New Iraq |
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Hauss
17: Conclusion
Danger ... and Opportunity
Crisis Danger The Wheel of Fortune Constraints on States and Citizens Opportunity How can we properly compare nation states? How much of under development is to be blamed on colonialism? In development, "to understand all, is to forgive all" -- true? |
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12/5-9
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Comprehensive
Final Exam: 0830 W 7 Dec. A mixture of multiple choice, paragraphs,
and an essay.
Note: Owing to his 2011 conference presentation in Slovakia, Dr. Lewis will hold the 201 final exam in week 14, the written section Wednesday and the multiple choice on Friday. |
