Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cooper
Mondays: 7 – 9:45PM School of General Studies
This course requires a lively, informed interest in current events, a sense of history of
the place of the United States in world affairs. Substantial reading of current news
sources and periodicals is demanded so as to keep pace with a fast-moving, ever-
shifting subject.
Requirements
The course grade will be based upon a final term paper on a carefully defined
topic, designed to test the student’s comprehension of the course matter, the
ability to conduct extensive research and to articulate its results.
Required Text
Pillar, Paul R., Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy, Brookings, 1 st Edition.
AMS 4310-501 H.H.A. Cooper
Fall 2005
COURSE OUTLINE
Week 3 Terrorism and the Media; the contagion effect. Where do terrorists
get their ideas? How do they translate them into action?
Week 4 What are terrorists like? How do they become terrorists? What are
their motives? How do we know the answers to these questions.
Week 5 International terrorism. The risks for the United States and its
interests at home and abroad. Have United States policies
increased the risks?
Week 7 Hi-tech terrorism; nuclear and bio-chemical forays into the future.
How serious are the dangers?
Week 11 Terrorism and the Cold War. How valuable is the old literature in a
new day and age? How has terrorism changed?
Week 12 What will fuel international terrorism now that the Cold War is over?
Are we over-emphasizing the clash of civilizations?
Week 13 Terrorism: Where is it going? How big a problem is it going to be
as the 21st century develops?