In May, 2010, US President Barack Obama distanced himself from the legacy left by the George W. Bush years by declaring, in effect, that America’s “War on Terror” was over. While agreeing that Al-Qaeda remained a target in need of eradication, he qualified that by saying that this was neither a “global war” nor a “war against Islam”. Despite his stance, most would agree that the use of terror remains a viable option to achieve ones goal when all other attempts have failed. If that is true, then it sounds to me like a global issue of continuous urgency; after all, does anybody reading this truly believe that known terrorist organizations around the world will spontaneously choose alternate legal means instead acts of violence to solve nationalistic, religious, economic and social concerns? I though not.
Obama spoke in 2010 about “developing partnerships with emerging centres of influence” and the need to educate Americans to “empower local communities” to root out terrorism at home. Sounds lovely, and it may even just work; but are we far enough removed from the Bush years to all of a sudden speak of understanding the same people we were told to fear and loathe only a few years ago? Since I don’t see mid-Western Canadians and Americans lining up to hug their neighbourhood Muslim contingent, (I don’t care what that ‘Little Mosque’ show says), we might as well take a look at these prospects ourselves.
Perhaps the problem of rooting out terrorist elements comes from our profound ignorance of the causes, the psychology, and goals of terrorists and terrorist ideals. Maybe we are so self-righteous as a (N.
American) culture that it doesn’t even occur to us why certain groups, especially radical Islamic groups, hate us so much. Or maybe, just maybe, there are people so blinded by their own tunnel-vision impaired extremism that they’ve become, well, evil.
The goal of this seminar is to first discuss what makes a terrorist tick, with the main focus on Radical
Islam and the Al-Qaeda network. Next, we’ll investigate whether or not combating terrorism is worthwhile or not and then, finally, what type of plan could be implemented to remove as many terrorist groups and limit as many terrorist activities as possible. Please prepare well for this seminar.
Seminar topics
A/ Understanding Terrorism:
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Psychology behind terrorism
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Goals of terrorists
B/ Understanding Al-Qaeda & Radical Islam:
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Origins of Radical Islam
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Legitimacy of “Jihads”
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Recruitment & Indoctrination
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Why they hate us! Causes and reasons
C/ Is it an exercise in futility?
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Can we defeat a “tactic”?
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Can democracy and Islam co-exist?
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Can the US rebuild its image and be trusted in the Islamic world?
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What mistakes did the US make during its War on Terror?
Required Reading List
Course Notes. Defining Terrorism. Clark, Bruce and Wallace, John: Global Connections chapter 23
Gendron, Angela. Militant Jihadism: Radicalization, Conversion, Recruitment.
Gould, James. Islam and Democracy.
Lewis, Bernard. The Roots of Muslim Rage.
McCauley, Clark R. The Psychology of Terrorism.
Additional Reading List
Chossudovsky, Michel. The Anglo-American War of Terror: An Overview.
CNN.com. Bush: Iraq Crucial in War on Terror.
Videos
Scott, Ridley “Body of Lies” (2008), Bigelow, Kathryn “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012), Boal, Mark
Your participation in the seminar will be graded out of 20 [C] and attendance is mandatory. The seminar will be held on Wednesday
December 4 th . Also note that you may read any additional material you wish. GOOD LUCK! 