Counterterrorism

Catalog description

One of the aims of analyzing the nature of terrorism , its goals , and the underlying deeper motives of those who partake in it , is to thwart as many terrorist efforts as possible and to bring terrorist campaigns to an end . Thus, the questions of how terrorism begins and how terrorism ends are intimately related. Because of the prevalence of terrorism in the national and international arenas and the spectacular nature of terrorist undertakings, the analysis of these questions is the subject of much media attention and public discussion that tends to obscure and politicize what should be a focus of attention of citizens, policy makers, and students of the social sciences alike . This course seeks to point out concrete measures for counterterrorism –of the type that sometimes is under public discussion –but in a more systematic manner that brings together methods of heuristic thinking in political science and adjacent disciplines , historical and comparative experience , and the literature on counter terrorism to analyze the range of possible strategies that could be adopted and the possible manner in which terror campaigns may be brought.