MVZ484 Global Terrorism

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2014
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Eszter Simon, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Veronika Velička Zapletalová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Kaniok, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Wed 9:45–11:15 U33
Prerequisites
n/a
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 53 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/53, only registered: 0/53
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course introduces students to global terrorism and to strategies fighting it. The course starts with clarifying the meaning of terrorism, then proceeds to discuss types of terrorism, such as state-sponsored terrorism, cyber terrorism, agroterrorism, or suicide terrorism, including their causes and possible consequences. The last part of the course focuses on ways fighting terrorism and the role perceptions play in it. The course uses scientific articles, policy papers, and expert accounts. It combines statistical papers and case studies, bringing examples from different conflicts. Learning outcomes By the end of this course, students will be able to • Articulate the meaning of terrorism • Recognize the causes of terrorism • Understand the complexities involving fighting terrorism • Identify and critically assess strategies of counterterrorism
Syllabus
  • Week 1: What is Terrorism? Compulsory Reading: • Hoffman, Bruce. 2006. “Defining Terrorism.” In Inside Terrorism. New York; Columbia University Press, 1-43. Week 2: Terrorist organizations as international organizations Compulsory Reading: • Asal, Victor, Brian Nussbaum, D. William Harrington. 2007. “Terrorism as Transnational Advocacy: An Organizational and Tactical Examination.” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 30 (1): 15-39. Week 3: Causes of Terrorism Compulsory Reading: • Krieger, Tim and Daniel Meierrieks. 2011. “What Causes Terrorism.” Public Choice 147 (1-2): 3-27. The class will discuss their evaluation criteria for discussion leadership based on the description of this task in the syllabus and submit – the day before class on week 4 – a one-page evaluation sheet that may be completed in no longer than 5 minutes. The submitted file should contain evaluation criteria and the form these criteria will be checked (open-ended questions, multiple choice items, scales, etc.) Week 4: State-sponsored terrorism and cyber terrorism Compulsory Reading: • Duncan, Ken. 2011. “A Blast from the Past: Lessons from a Largely Forgotten Incident of State-Sponsored Terrorism.” Perspective on Terrorism 5 (1): 19 pages • Jancewski, Lech J. and Andrew M. Colarik. “Cyber Terrorism Attacks” In Cyber warfare and Cyber terrorism. Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference, 1-7. • Herzog, Stephen. 2011. “Revisiting the Estonian Cyber Attacks: Digital Threats and Multinational Responses.” Journal of Strategic Security 4 (2): 49-60. Week 5: Agroterrorism Compulsory Readings: • Foxcell Jr., Joseph. 2010. “Current Trends in Agroterrorism (Antilivestock, Anticrop, and Antisoil Bioagricultural Terrorism) and Their Potential Impact on Food Security” Studies in Confict and Terrorism 24 (2): 107-129. • “Agroterrorism. What Is the Threat and What Can Be Done About It?” 2003. RAND Corporation Research Brief. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/2005/RB7565.pdf, 2 pages. Week 6: no class Week 7: Suicide terrorism Compulsory Readings: • Meraria, Ariel, Ilan Diamanta, Arie Bibia, Yoav Broshib and Giora Zakina. 2009. “Personality Characteristics of ‘Self Martyrs’/‘Suicide Bombers’ and Organizers of Suicide Attacks” Terrorism and Political Violence 22 (1): 87-101. • Pape, Robert A. 2003. “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.” APSR 97: 343-361. Week 8: Terrorism and Communications Compulsory Reading: • Ranstorp, Magnus. 2007. “The Virtual Sanctuary of al-Qaeda and terrorism in an age of globalization.” In International Relations and Security in the Digital Age. Edited by Johan Eriksson and Giampiero Giacomello. London and New York: Routledge, 31-56. Week 9: Fighting terrorism 1: Compulsory Reading: • Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban Klor. 2010. “Counter-Suicide-Terrorism: Evidence From House Demolitions” NBER Working Paper 16493. Cambridge: MA National Bureau Of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w16493.pdf?new_window=1 Week 10: Fighting Terrorism 2: The War on Terror Compulsory readgin: • Malet, David. 2008. “Faith in the System: Conceptualizing Grand Strategy in the Post 9/11 World Order.” Studies in Conflict Terrorism 31 (8): 723-735. • Kilcullen, David. 2009. “Case Study: Road Building in the Kinar Province.” In The Accidental Guerilla. Fighting Small Wars In the Midst of a Big One. New York: Oxford University Press, 70-105. Week 11: Fighting Terrorism 3: Terrorism and Insurgency • Simon, Eszter. “Policy Change, Terrorism, and Insurgency: Changing Course in Malaya and Afghanistan.” manuscript Week 12: Perception of Terrorism and the War on Terror • Omanga, Duncan. 2012. “Editorial cartoons and the War on Terror in Kenya's print media.” Journal of African Media Studies (4) 75-96. • Pieper, Christopher M. 2010. “Mass Media as Risk Management in the ‘War on Terror’” In The Routledge Handbook of War and Society. Edited by Steven Carlton-Ford and Morten G. Ender. Oxon: Routledge, 211-221.
Teaching methods
This class mainly uses interactive and student-centered teaching methods and will rely primarily on the Socratic method. That is, classes will be based on the discussion of the assigned readings. Reading are available through the University information system.
Assessment methods
Course Requirements • Regular class attendance Students may only miss two classes during the semester. For any additional classes missed, students must present a valid proof of the reason (doctor’s note in case of illness, obituary in case of death of a family member, etc.) in order to pass the course. Missing a class does not exempt students from submitting exercises in a timely manner. • Active participation in class Students are expected to actively participate in class by asking and answering questions, and offering comments on the readings. Students may be asked to complete a few small exercises throughout the course the results of which will count against their participation grade. • Weekly quizzes There is a substantial amount of reading for this course. Students are expected to finish readings prior to each class and bring a copy of the readings with them to class. To make sure that each student prepares regularly and, thus, to ensure the possibility of classroom discussion, each class (except weeks 1 and 13) will start with a short 10-minute quiz on the required readings for the given week. Quiz questions will be general, not requiring deep understanding of readings. Quizzes will consist of five short questions each worth 20 points (∑ 100). If a student fails to attend a class, his/her quiz will earn him/her 0 point. However, the results of the worst two quizzes will be automatically dropped when calculating the final grade. • Discussion leadership In pairs or groups, students will be responsible for leading in-class discussions through weeks 8-12. Students will have to prepare to lead a 50-minute discussion of the chosen class, which will take place after the quizzes and before a quick review by the instructor at the end. Students will evaluate each other in writing and suggest a grade (expressed in %). The average of student grades will make up half of the student’s discussion leadership grade. The other half will be assigned by the instructor. Discussion leadership means that the discussion leaders help the class understand the reading and also put it into a broader perspective (link it to a current issue, previous readings or any other aspects of international relations. This requires that students will have to do further research on their chosen subject. They are required either to consult 3 additional scholarly articles or a scholarly article or a book on the chosen subject. Please note, students will have to find these articles on their own. Students will be required to submit a class plan a week in advance. The class plan should contain a list of questions they intend to use during discussion leadership, a plan for a 10-minute mini-lecture that supplements classroom readings, and any additional exercises they may wish to use in class. Questions should be of three kinds: 1. Questions that foster or check understanding of the readings (avoid using yes/no questions); 2. Questions those that pick one aspect from the reading and asks the group to argue for and against a relevant statement (could be picked from the reading or made up by the students 3. Questions that contextualize the reading (relates it to other course topics, other topics in IR etc.) The primary purpose of discussion leadership is to foster student learning and participation in class. However, keeping this in sight, students are encouraged to take creative approaches to leading discussions. Students will sight up for discussion leadership on weeks 3-5. While respecting student choice as much as possible, the instructor reserves the right to re-assign students to other than their chose topics should the need arise. • Take-home exam During the last week of the term – week 13 – students will complete a take-home paper. The take-home paper will follow the format of at-home assignments and will be completed individually. At least 2 of the 5 questions will be drawn from discussion in class.There will be an intentional time limit on this exercise – 24 hour. The class will not meet during the last week, and students will choose collectively the day of week 13 they wish the take-home paper to be distributed. Grading Policy When calculating the final grade, the assessment criteria discussed above will be taken into account with the following weights: In-class participation: 15% Quizzes: 25% Discussion leadership 30% Take-home Exam: 30%
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2014, recent)
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