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PSC 371: Seminar in World Politics & Terrorism

• National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.  The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. W.W.Norton.  Authorized Edition. 2004,
• Badey, Thomas, ed.  Violence and Terrorism: Annual Editions.  Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.  8e, 2005-'06, 0073012599,
• Howard, Russell and Reid Sawyer, Defeating Terrorism: Shaping the New Security Environment.  Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.  2004, 0-07-287302-7,
• Joseph, William, Mark Kesselman, & Joel Krieger, eds., Introduction to Politics of the Developing World. Houghton Mifflin, 3/e, 2004. 0-618-21447-X,
• Kettl, Donald.  System Under Stress: Homeland Security & American Politics.  CQ Press, 2004, 1-56802-888-1, [discontinued from course after 2005]
• Sterba, James, ed.  Terrorism and International Justice.  Oxford UP., 2003, (Philosophical essays), 0195158881, [discontinued from course after 2005]

How did the Al Qaeda (AQ) attacks on the US develop over time, and could the 9/11/01 attacks have been avoided?

Were US intelligence and counterterrorist (CT) assets well organized to avoid the 9/11/01 attacks?

To what degree was the Clinton administration's CT strategy a product of faulty presidential thinking -- or faulty intelligence?

How did the 9/11 Commission recommend the US adapt its strategy to react to the 9/11/01 attacks?

How did the 9/11 Commission recommend the US restructure its organizations after the 9/11/01 attacks?

How can the historical approach to a commission's post-disaster report assist -- or hinder -- the effort for reform?

1. An Essay on Terrorism, Marc Nicholson, American Diplomacy, August 19, 2003

In what sense is terrorism as a “tool of the weak"?

2. Terror as a Strategy of Psychological Warfare, Boaz Ganor, The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, July 15, 2002

What is the significance of “terrorism’s psychological effect,” and how should it be countered?

New! 3. Is Terrorism’s Threat Overblown?, John L. Scherer, USA Today Magazine, January 2003

Has the terrorist threat to the US diminished and has the US overreacted?

4. Ghosts of Our Past, Karen Armstrong, AARP Modern Maturity, January/February 2002

How is our understanding of Islamist terrorism enlightened by studying Islamic modernization and the effects of the “Great Western Transformation” on the Muslim world?

5. Understanding the Terrorist Mind-Set, Randy Borum, The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 2003

How does the ideology of terrorists, shape the necessary design of counter-terrorism efforts?

6. The Terrorists in Their Own Words: Interviews with 35 Incarcerated Middle Eastern Terrorists, Jerrold M. Post, Ehud Sprinzak, and Laurita M. Denny, Terrorism and Political Violence, Spring 2003

• How do the interviews with incarcerated terrorists expose about the terrorist thought process and goals?

7. The Terrorist Notebooks, Martha Brill Olcott and Bakhtiyar Babajanov, Foreign Policy, March/April 2003

• What insights into the tactics and beliefs taught to future generations of Islamic terrorists are provided by the captured Uzbek notebooks?

8. Hostage, Inc., Rachel Briggs, Foreign Policy, July/August 2002

• What do kidnappings in Colombia tell us about the problem of kidnapping worlwide?

9. Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism, Patterns of Global Terrorism—2001, May 2002

• How powerful have nation states been in state-sponsored terrorism -- and how should the U.S. government respond to them?

10. Osama bin Laden’s “Business” in Sudan, Ann M. Lesch, Current History, May 2002

• How should the US reduce state support of Al Qaeda, and how does the relationship between Osama bin Laden and the Sudanese government inform this judgment?

11. Libya and the United States: Elements of a Performance-Based Roadmap, Ronald Bruce St John, Middle East Policy, Fall 2003

• How could a “Performance-Based Roadmap” ensure that Libya becomes less dangerous to the US?

12. Extremist Groups in Egypt, Jeffrey A. Nedoroscik, Terrorism and Political Violence, Summer 2002

• How did Egypt give rise to the first Islamic militant organizations, and how does that help us understand contemporary international terrorism?

13. Colombia and the United States: From Counternarcotics to Counterterrorism, Arlene B. Tickner, Current History, February 2003

• How should the US change its strategy to reduce Colombia’s terrorist network and its drug trade?

14. "Déjà Vu All Over Again?" Why Dialogue Won’t Solve the Kashmir Dispute, Arun R. Swamy, Analysis From the East-West Center, November 2001

• Can the Pakistan-India fight for Kashmir be resolved without international attention?.

15. Terror on the Tracks, Aparisim Ghosh and James Graff, Time, March 22, 2004

•  How could the Spanish government assign blame for the attacks on the rail system in Madrid?

16. FBI Targets Domestic Terrorists, Valerie Richardson, Insight, April 22, 2002

• How serious among domestic terrorism threats, are eco-terrorist groups -- and why?

17. Another Oklahoma City Bomb Trial, and Still Questions Remain, Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times, March 16, 2004

• How great is the threat from US white supremacist groups?

18. Judge Convicts Three in ‘Va. Jihad’ Case, Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, March 5, 2004

•  How dangerous are American militias such as the “Virginia jihad network?”

19. Due Process for Terrorists?, The Case for a Federal Terrorism Court, Thomas F. Powers, The Weekly Standard, January 12, 2004

• Do what degree is there a need of a specialized federal terrorism court to deal with terrorists inside the United States?

20. Terrorism as Breaking News: Attack on America, Brigitte L. Nacos, Political Science Quarterly, Spring 2003

• Is news media protrayal of the US and of the 9/11 attacks part of the problem, and what should be done about it?

21. Jihadis in the Hood: Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror, Hisham Aidi, Middle East Report, Fall 2002

• Is there an “Islamic threat” in America’s inner cities, and what should be done about it?

22. Supplying Terrorists the ‘Oxygen of Publicity’, Jamie Dettmer, Insight, July 15, 2002

• Should a democratic government manipulate the media in the war on terrorism?

23. Doomsday Religious Movements, Terrorism and Political Violence, Spring 2002

• Do millennial groups, or "doomsday cults", present a potential threat to society, and how can we defend against them without violating the First Amendment?

24. “In the Lord’s Hands” America’s Apocalyptic Mindset, Robert Jay Lifton, World Policy Journal, Fall 2003

• Is the apocalyptic mindset an important part in contemporary political violence?

25. Al-Qaeda: The Misunderstood Wahhabi Connection and the Ideology of Violence, Maha Azzam, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, February 2003

• How are Islamic ideals and scripture interpreted by al-Qaeda to justify its actions?

26. Understanding the Challenge, Shibley Telhami, The Middle East Journal, Winter 2002

• How do moderates and extremists vary in the role of religion in the Middle East and violent anti-American sentiment? How does this variance affect the US strategy in the war on terrorism?

27. The Unexpected Face of Terrorism, Rhiannon Talbot, This is the Northeast, January 31, 2002

• Are there common characteristic to female terrorists, and how does the answer affect US strategy?

28. The Female Militant Romanticized, Sarala Emmanuel, Women in Action, April 2002

• How does the portrayal of women terrorists in the media need improvement?

29. Young, Gifted and Ready to Kill, Michael Tierney, The Herald (Glasgow, UK), August 3, 2002

• How do three women from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade tip us off to "the new generation of suicide bombers?"

30. Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism, Karla J. Cunningham, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2003

• What motivates women to engage in political violence, and how far does the answer show commonality world wide?

31. The New FBI, Robert S. Mueller III, Vital Speeches of the Day, September 1, 2003

How have changes in organization, technologies, intelligence, and operations improved the F.B.I.’s capacity to combat and respond to terrorism?

32. Same War, Different Views: Germany, Japan and the War on Terrorism, Peter J. Katzenstein, Current History, December 2002

• How have Germany and Japan modified their foreign and domestic policies since September 11, 2001?

33. Counterterrorism, James Steinberg, Brookings Review, Summer 2002

• What are the limits of counterterrorism as an organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy and to what degree is international cooperation a necessary focus?

34. Grim Future, Peter Herby, The World Today, May 2003

• What is the risk that terrorists may acquire and use biological or chemical agents?

35. The Myth of Cyberterrorism, Joshua Green, The Washington Monthly, November 2002

• What are the difficulties of implementing a real threat of cyberterrorism -- and to what degree is the United States sufficiently prepared for cyber defense?

36. Inside the A-Bomb Bazaar, Johanna McGeary, Time, January 19, 2004

• What do AQ Khan's sales of atomic secrets tell us about the capability of terrorists and rogue states to develop nuclear weapons?

37. The Rise of Complex Terrorism, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Foreign Policy, January/February 2002

• Are American information systems increasingly at risk from terrorism, and how may info defense be improved?

38. Countering Complexity: An Analytical Framework to Guide Counter-Terrorism Policy-Making, Brent Ellis, Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, Spring/Summer 2003

• What are the major trends in contemporary international terrorism -- and what do we still need to learn in order to create policies that will prevent future terrorist threats?

Howard, Preface, and his speech to AWAC, Nov. 2005:

What are the differences between the modern international terrorists and those Howard was fighting in the 1980s in the far east?

Rohan Gunaratna, "Defeating Al Qaeda—The Pioneering Vanguard of the Islamic Movements", Presented at the Fortieth Annual U.S. Military Academy Senior Conference, West Point, New York, 2003

Why was Al Qaeda so difficult to defeat?

What progress did the coalition make against Al Qaeda (AQ), and what remained to be done when this article was written (2003)?

Audrey Kurth Cronin, "Behind the Curve: Globalization and International Terrorism", International Security vol 27, no. 3 (Winter 2002/2003), 30–58

What strategic change is needed when facing international terrorism, and what types of instruments are more effective?

Michael J. Meese and Patrick D. Buckley, "The Financial Front in the Global War on Terrorism", Written for this volume (2003)

With what instruments can the US attack AQ's finances, and to what degree can this be done alone?

Robert Mandel, "Fighting Fire with Fire: Privatizing Counterterrorism", Presented at the Fortieth Annual U.S. Military Academy Senior Conference, West Point, New York, 2003

Why does Mandel argue for unorthodox Counterterrorist (CT) strategies and utilizing unorthodox organizations?  What might be the counterargument to Mandel?

James S. Robbins, "Defeating Networked Terrorism", Presented at the Fortieth Annual U.S. Military Academy Senior Conference, West Point, New York, 2003

Contrast Robbins's argument with that of Gunaratna: if AQ is so difficult to defeat, why has there not been a spate of major attacks on the US?

Is the war against AQ being won?

Michael Eastman and Robert Brown, "Security Strategy in the Gray zone: Alternatives for Preventing WMD Handoff to Non-State Actors", Written for this volume, 2003

Of the methods of securing the US from attack by international terrorists using weapons of mass destruction (WMD), what is the best option?

Bruce Hoffman, "The Logic of Suicide Terrorism", Atlantic Monthly, June 2003

To what degree is it rational for a terrorist organization to use suicide bombing?

Does the US have any chance of defending itself against suicide bombings?

Kelly J. Hicks, "How Business Can Defeat Terrorism: Global Financial Firms Battle the SARS Outbreak in Hong Kong", Presented at the Fortieth Annual U.S. Military Academy Senior Conference, West Point, New York, 2003

Is the SARS outbreak a useful analogy for defense against a bioterrorist attack?

Russell D. Howard, "Preemptive Military Doctrine: No Other Choice Against Transnational Non-State Actors", Written for this volume, 2003

Why, contrary to longstanding conventional strategy, does Howard argue for preemptive military doctine against AQ?

Brian Michael Jenkins, "Countering Al Qaeda: An Appreciation of the Situation and Suggestions for Strategy" RAND Corporation, 2002

Why does Jenkins argue that the second phase of the war against AQ is more complex?

Wayne Downing, "The Global War on Terrorism: Focusing the National Strategy", Written for this volume, 2003

How can the threat from international terrorism be reduced -- or even defeated?

1. How can we compare the politics of nation states and regions?
2. How is the developing world in transition -- and where is this more or less pronounced?

1. How did the modern Chinese state develop?
2. What have the successes and failures of modern Chinese economic policy?
3. What are the political shortcomings of modern China?
4. Where will Chinese politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
5. Does the Chinese history of authoritarian govenment indicate China will never be ready for democracy?
6. Is the Communist Party a factor in favor of -- or against -- modern Chinese development?
7. How has Chinese political ideology developed in the last century, and how much of that is due to Mao Zedong?
8. Has Chinese political ideology shaped -- of been shaped by -- economic development?

1. How did the modern Indian state develop?
2. How has the caste system influenced Indian politics?
3. What have the successes and failures of modern Indian economic policy?
4. What are the political shortcomings of modern India?
5. Where will Indian politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
6. Does Indian government show that democracy, if adopted too early, undermines economic development?
7. Sketch the influence of religion upon modern Indian politics.

1. How did the modern Mexican state develop?
2. What have the successes and failures of modern Mexican economic policy?
3. What are the political shortcomings of modern Mexico?
4. Where will Mexican politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
5. Is the party system actually a cause of delayed development in Mexico?

1. How did the modern Brazilian state develop?
2. What have the successes and failures of modern Brazilian economic policy?
3. What are the political shortcomings of modern Brazil?
4. Where will Brazilian politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
5. Discuss the influence of Portugal upon modern Brazil.
6. Was colonialism more beneficial than other, modern influences on Brazil?

1. How did the modern Nigerian state develop?
2. What have the successes and failures of modern Nigerian economic policy?
3. What are the political shortcomings of modern Nigeria?
4. Where will Nigerian politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
5. Discuss the influence of the military upon modern Nigeria.
6. Is tribalism the greatest danger to Nigerian political development?
7. Which is more important to Nigerian politics, oil or the tribe?

1. How did the modern Iranian state develop?
2. What have the successes and failures of modern Iranian economic policy?
3. What are the political shortcomings of modern Iran?
4. Where will Iranian politics and economy be, a generation into the future?
5. Discuss the influence of the military upon modern Iran.
6. Is theocracy the greatest danger to Iranian political development?
7. Which is more important to Iranian politics, oil or the Koran?

1. Which has been more successful in last fifty years of development, India or China?
2. By what measures can you compare the development of India with China -- and how does this influence the answer?
3. "India demonstrates that political development can occur without economic -- and China the reverse."  Discuss fully.
4. "Mexico has developed further than Brazil purely because it is closer to the United States."  Discuss fully.
5. Is there more to admire in Mexican or Brazilian development?
6. Given that both are latin cultures, what differs between Mexican and Brazilian politics?
7. Does Iran's theocracy produce more development politically and economically than Nigeria's military state?
8. Discuss the influence of the military in politics with the examples of Nigeria and Brazil.
9. Compare the influence of religion in Iran and communist ideology in China.  Are they parallel forces in politics in those countries?  Does this imply that communist ideology in China is equivalent to a state religion?

• How has homeland security "stressed the system", and how well did it respond under extraordinary pressure?
• What executive, congressional, state, and local bureaucratic responses were made to the tragedy?
• What intergovernmental and interdepartmental coordination problems surfaced after the attacks?
• How does security impact American civil rights and liberties?
• What are the risks and costs associated with protecting the nation, and the limitations of regulatory measures?
• To what degree have the terrorist attacks recalibrated the political equilibrium of the country?
• In what way was the bureaucratic reorganization under the new Department of Homeland Security a response to the system-wide coordination problems brought to light on 9/11?
• Has the DHS restructuring brought about the kinds of long term policy changes that are necessary to deal effectively and efficiently with the threat of terrorism?
• Why did DHS propose to allow “sneak and peak” investigations into private homes and facilities?
• How should Congressional oversight regulate DHS and the potential infringement of our civil rights and liberties?

 

 
 
 

1: Reading the Vital Signs: The Response to 9-11

• What led to the rise of “Homeland Security”?
• How does Homeland Security affect public policy?

2: The System Breaks Down

• What went wrong with connecting the dots of itnelligence about the 9/11 attacks?
• How did the anthrax threat interfere with US government?
• In what ways did worries about forms of terrorist threat spread across the US government in 2001?
• How does the demand for coordination lead to a need for Homeland Security?

3: The Federal Bureaucracy Responds

• What organizational challenges were apparent after 9/11?
• What first steps were taken to respond to these organizational problems?
• How did plural interests play a part in the DHS restructuring struggle?
• In what way did bureaucratic boundaries become a battleground in the formation of DHS?

4: State and Local Struggles

How did the "dragon fighters" respond to the terrorist attack?

What gaps in the system were discovered after the 9/11 attacks?

How well did coordination of agencies work in theory and practice?

What tensions emerged over the distribution of DHS money?

How well did normal organizations respond to abnormal events?

5: The Political Costs of Managing Risk

How did the US fare at balancing risks post 9/11?

What are (and were) the warning signals of terrorist attack -- and how well do these help defense?

What is the role played by political trust in anti-terrorist defense?

6: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

How was the Patriot Act enacted?

How did the war on terrorism get broadened, and what were the implications?

How did the rush to the Patriot Act cause a building storm of criticism?

Give some examples that emerged from the first months of the Patriot Act of the difficulty of balancing security and rights.

7: Stress Test

What does this case tell us about the opening of Kingdon's "policy window"?

How does the political system react to stress?

What has homeland security done to the policy system?

• 1. Murderers, Not Warriors: The Moral Distinction Between Terrorists and Legitimate Fighters in Asymmetric Conflicts, Shannon E. French
• Is the weaker side in a conflict required to fight by the same rules as the stronger?
• Are innocents equivalent to non-combatants?
• Is unintended killing of innocents wrong?
• Is jus in bello (fair means) enough to assess combatants?
• Insofar as AQ targets combatants, should they have combatant status?
• 2. The Terrorism of "Terrorism", Tomis Kapitan
• Do parties involved in conflicts consistently use the same definition of terrorism for both sides?
• Is the term terrorism simply used to discredit the opponent in a conflict?
• Are we better off dropping the rhetoric of terrorism and analyzing conflicts without it?

• 3. Terror and Just Response, Noam Chomsky
• Given a definition of terrorism, would weaker countries be justified in bombing the US in retaliation for its own actions?
• Has the US in fact engaged in terrorist actions of its own?
• Will social, economic and political conditions continue to fuel terrorism against the US?
• 4. Narratives Competing for Our Souls, David B. Burrell
• How did the British alliance in WW1 with arabs against the Ottoman turks imply support for arab self-determination?
• How did the Balfour declaration (1917) endorse a Jewish home in Palestine?
• What is the contradiction between assimilating gentiles into Israel -- or Jews ruling non-citizens?
• 5. The War Against Pluralism, Robert L. Phillips
• Can the Treaty of Westphalia be said to have removed religious truth from disputes among nations?
• Does the resultant pluralism represent only the values of the lowest common denominator, consumerism?
• If we were to reestablish a public conception of the good, could we find more common ground with Islamic societies?
• 6. Can a Muslim Be a Terrorist?, [Ms.] Zayn Kassam
• Is jihad in historical islam merely a defensive war -- and is "greater jihad" an inner struggle of personal transformation?
• Do all Islamist conservatives believe in violence?
• Are Islamist groups desirous of returning to a golden age utopia?
• What must nonviolent muslims do to resist extremist groups?
• What sort of standard of international justice could encourage muslim societies to become pluralistic and tolerant?

• 7. The Moral Response to Terrorism and Cosmopolitanism, Louis P. Pojman
• Is it true of both Israelis and muslims tha ttheir religious fundamentalism permits massive retaliation for perceived injustices without protection of noncombatants or innocents?
• Which of these are more important as causes of terrorism: poverty, oppression and intolerant religion?
• How does Pojman justify the practical short term US CT strategy?
• How can a message of universal, secular morality -- combined with some form of world government -- lead to the reduction of terrorism?
• 8. Envisioning a Global Rule of Law, Daniele Archibugi and Iris Marion Young
• Should the 9/11 attacks be viewed as a blow against the US and its people -- or a crime against humanity?
• How should a criminal justice prosecution against international terrorism be conducted?
• Could a global prosecution of terrorists succeed without remediating injustices in nation states?
• 9. Making War on Terrorism in Response to 9/11, Claudia Card
• If the 9/11 attacks were purely punitive, were they actually "terrorist" in nature?
• Does Card's broader definition of terrorism result in all criminals being labelled terrrorists?
• Can one draw an analogy from the revenge exacted by raped and battered women to the revenge sought by nation states against terrorists?
• 10. Terrorism, War, and Empire, Richard W. Miller
• Is justifiable to uphold the war agasinst the Taliban while denouncing the war against Saddam Hussein?
• Would the consequences of the removal of Saddam Hussein justify undermining the norms of nonintervention?
• 11. Terrorism and International Justice, James P. Sterba
• Has the US behaved as a terrorist nation itself in any sense?
• Did the US exhaust its nonbelligerent correctives before waging war?
• Does the US have a moral obligation to engage in international treaties?
• Does the US have a moral obligation to redistribute resources from rich to poor?
• 12. Compassion and Terror, Martha C. Nussbaum
• Must we morally develop our sense of compassion into a universal humanity?
• Must we educate our children into ethical respect for humanity?
• How much of preventable suffering among humanity is actually caused by terrorism?