Fall 2007

T C 357 • Terrorism, Guerrilla, and Insurgency

Course Description

In recent years, especially since the 9/11 attacks on the US, many scholars have contended that terrorism has become the most prominent challenge for International security. In this class we will question this argument. First we will distinguish terrorism form guerrilla and other types of insurgencies. Then we will critically look into the conventional theories for the root causes of terrorism offered by political scientists, economists, psychologists and sociologists. Finally, we will address the question of coping with terrorism as well as other types of politically motivated attacks.

The course will have a theoretical orientation and will offer both qualitative and quantitative approaches to study the phenomena.

About the Professor

Dr. Ami Pedahzur (PhD, Haifa, 1999) is an associate professor at the departments of Government and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin. He arrive to Texas in 2004 as a Harrington Fellow. He is also a senior fellow at the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa, Israel. His main fields of interest are terrorism and political extremism. His latest book, Suicide Terrorism, was published by Polity Press in 2005. Currently he is authoring a book on the role of intelligence in the struggle with terrorism. He is also co-authoring a book manuscript entitled The Weapon of the Weak? The Paradox of Jewish Terrorism in Israel. A volume which he edited, Suicide Attacks: Root Causes of the Culture of Death, was published by Routledge in July 2006. His hobbies include jogging, cycling and working out at the gym.

Grading Policy

Class attendance and active participation: 10%
Three ten page papers: 30% each

Texts

Walter Enders and Todd Sandler, The Political Economy of Terrorism
Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism Robert Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks Other articles will appear on the course website

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