Al Qaeda 3700: 392/690

Transcription

1 Al Qaeda 3700: 392/690 Prof. Karl Kaltenthaler Office: Olin 214 Tel: Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1-3pm And by appointment Course Description This course examines the causes and consequences of Al Qaeda. The main questions addressed in the class are: Why do some individuals or organizations turn to terrorism in the name of Al Qaeda? What types of societies breed terrorism? Why does Al Qaeda choose the methods that it does to achieve its goals? Under what conditions will Al Qaeda succeed and under what conditions will it fail? Course Requirements It is expected that each student will do the assigned readings by the date of assignment. Although lectures will cover the readings, they may also cover material that is not in the readings; the student is responsible for the material in both the readings and the lectures. This means coming to each class having read the material and being able to offer your input. The class participation grade is based on attendance, evidence of having done the reading, frequency of participation, and cogency of class comments. Your participation grade will be given as one of three possible grades. A student can get two points added to her final percentage grade for outstanding participation, one point added for good participation, and no points added for no active participation. Students can miss up to two days of class, unexcused, and not be penalized in their participation grade. Any days missed beyond the two allowed absences will be assessed a 1%/day penalty to your final class grade. The course also requires two exams, including the final. The final will not be comprehensive. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor, beforehand, if they are unable to complete any of the class responsibilities at the assigned time. Exams must be taken on the 1

2 assigned day at the assigned time unless the student is too ill to take the exam or their has been a death in the family. No rescheduling because of travel plans! Office Hours I strongly encourage you to discuss anything related to the class in my office hours. If you cannot meet me during my office hours, please me and make an appointment. This will ensure you ample time with me to speak. Policy Brief Paper Each undergraduate student in the class is required to hand in a five page policy brief on the issue they choose. It is to be their own personal views on the policy issue they have been assigned. It must include citations of material used for the brief. The grade will be given based on answering all of the required questions in the brief completely. Students will do a policy brief paper on one of the following policy topics: What should the US do to defeat Al Shabaab? How should the US try to defeat Al Qaeda in Pakistan? What should the US do about Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula? What should the US about Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb? Each student must answer the following questions in their policy brief: 1.) What is the policy problem and why does it matter to the United States? 2.) What policy options are available to the US government? 3.) What are the full range of pros and cons for each of the policy options? 4.) What is the best policy option for the United States and why? ***Graduate Students: Each graduate student in the class is required to hand in a ten page policy brief on the issue they choose. Breakdown of grading: Midterm: 40% Final Exam: 40% Policy Paper: 20% 2

3 Texts: Required books: Marc Sageman. Understanding Terror Networks. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, (aka UTN) Any other readings can be found on Springboard Daily Schedule June 4: Introduction June 5: What is Al Qaeda? (Farrall How Al Qaeda Works ) I. Theories of Terrorism June 6: Sociological Theories (Bergen A Discussion of Some of the Causes of the Underlying Causes of Al Qaeda Terrorism ). June 7: Psychological Theories and Rational Choice Theories (Victoroff The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches; Pape Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism ) June 8: No Class June 9: Religious Terrorism (Wiktorowicz and Kaltner Killing in the Name of Islam) II. Development of Al Qaeda June 12: The Development of Islam (Farah Islam, Chps. 1 and 2) June 13: Salafi Jihadism (Sageman UTN, Chp.1; Wiktotowicz The Anatomy of the Salafi Movement ) 3

4 June 14: Egypt (Berman The Philosopher of Islamic Terror; Nedorocsik Extremist Groups in Egypt ). June 15: Afghanistan (Anonymous, Chps. 7 and 11). June 18: Al Qaeda Attacks I (Sageman UTN Chp. 2; UBL Declaration of Jihad; UBL The World Islamic Front; Timeline of AQ Attacks and Plots) June 19: Al Qaeda Attacks II June 20: Exam One Part III: Al Qaeda June 21: The Ideology and Structure of Al Qaeda (Zabel The Military Strategy of Global Jihad ) June 22: The Profile of Al Qaeda Members (Sageman UTN Chps. 3 &4) June 25: Al Qaeda Cells/Loners in the West (Leiden Europe s Angry Muslims ) June 26: Al Qaeda in Iraq: (Benraad Assessing AQI s Resilience After April s Leadership Decapitation; ) June 27: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (Porter AQIM s Objectives in North Africa ) June 28: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Hegghammer The Failure of Jihad in Saudi Arabia. ) June 29: The Somali Shabaab (Wise Al Shabaab ) July 2: Al Qaeda Central (CTC Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined? ) Part IV: Allied Jihadi Groups July 3: Pakistani Jihadis: (Abbas A Profile of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) July 4: No Class July 5: The Afghan Taliban (Rashid Taliban, Chps. 1 and 7) 4

5 Part V: The Future July 6: The Killing of Osama bin Laden and the Future of Al Qaeda (Schmidle Getting bin Laden ) Final Exam: TBA 5