Dispute Resolution

Description:
This course provides an introduction to current scholarship on terrorism and counterterrorism. Students will explore cutting edge debates that highlight the need for sophisticated conflict analysis in the post 9-11 world. Questions we will explore include: What is terrorism? Is it a meaningful term? How has it evolved and changed? What are its hypothesized causes and is there a "New Terrorism"? How do those who engage in this kind of violence organize, accumulate funds, amass support, and use the media? What is counterterrorism? And how do the strategies taken by terrorists and those who oppose them shape some outcomes rather than others? In other words, what are the dynamics of terrorism and counterterrorism? When does terrorism subside? When does it escalate? How can counterterrorist policies and strategies be modified? Particular attention will be paid to examining new and emerging scholarship in the field of conflict management that suggests strategies to reduce or at least contain this problem.

Readings, research, reports, films, discussion and debate, case studies, simulations and other class exercises will all be used to help students better understand the concept and origins of terrorism, explore similarities and differences in the way terrorists and counterterrorists organize and strategize, approach the problem of securing support, engage in conflict and, in some cases, resolve their conflicts.

Academic Information:
Prerequisite: Graduate degree student.
Distribution I Area: None.
Distribution II Area: None.
Diversity Area: None.