Catalog Description
This course explores terrorism and armed struggle from theoretical and historical perspectives, and analyzes a number of violent movements with nationalist, ideological, and religious motivations.
What to expect
Students learn, evaluate, and apply theories of the use of violence and counter-terrorism. Topics include state sponsorship of terror, approaches to counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, when and why groups use terrorism, why individuals join terror or insurgent groups, how terrorist and insurgent groups form, challenges to group formation, and challenges to counter-terror and counter-insurgency (COIN). Students will explore a variety of sources including academic analyses of political violence and documents captured from terrorist groups and will engage in simulations of negotiations.