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SYLLABUS
MILITARY SCIENCE MS 10
TERRORISM AND ASYMETRICAL WARFARE
Winter Quarter, 2008
Location: Room 1930, Buchanan Hall
Meeting Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 1100-1150
Instructor: Lieutenant Colonel Elious E. Zenon
Office: Building 451 (Military Science) Room # 112
Phone: 893-2769
Email: eezenon@milsci.ucsb.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. or by appointment
Course Description/Objectives
Terrorism is a subject that is constantly in the news and one of daily concern to people throughout the world. This course is designed to teach students about the many facets of terrorism e.g., its role in modern history, motivations behind it, the role of the media, etc. Much emphasis will be placed on the phenomenon of political violence in general. There is a fine line between terrorism and insurgency. Often times, the difference is determined by the perspective of the observer which is often constructed through various social and political forces. Therefore it is also important to understand the intricacies of insurgency as well as terrorism. Through the material presented in this class, students should come out with a better understanding of these forms of political violence and develop informed judgments vis-à-vis violent events throughout the world. The course title has the added term, “Asymmetrical Warfare.” This is representative of the fact that the kinds of conflicts in which the U.S. military is most likely to engage in modern times will be more in the form of “low intensity conflicts,” spawning from the forms of political violence we will discuss in class, rather than the types of traditional full-scale same force military clashes witnessed in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Student Responsibilities
1. This class will primarily be in lecture format, however you may ask questions, but they must be objective and relevant to the course. This is not a forum for political discourse. It is incumbent upon you to read the material prior to coming to class. 2. There will be a mid-term exam worth 50% of your grade and a final exam, also worth 50%. The final exam will not be cumulative. 3. Academic honesty is mandatory. Anyone caught cheating on an exam will be punished in accordance with UCSB policy.
Text Books
These books are for sale in the UCSB Book Store and AS Notes are available through the AS Office.
Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman
Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse (2nd Edition) by Barde E. O’Neill
Class Meeting/Reading Schedule
January
8 Course Introduction. No assignment
10 Defining Terrorism and Political Violence (Hoffman, Ch 1)
15 The End of Empire and the Origins of Contemporary Terrorism (Hoffman, Ch 2)
17 Video: Orientalism (Edward Said)
22 Internationalization of Terrorism (Hoffman, Ch 3)
24 Counter Terrorism Organizations; Religion and Terrorism (Hoffman, Ch 4)
29 Video: Obsession – Radical Islamic Terrorist
31 Suicide Terrorism (Hoffman, Ch 5)
February
5 The Modern Terrorist Mindset: Tactics, Targets, and Technologies Terrorism Today and Tomorrow (Hoffman, Ch 6 & 7)
7 Mid-term Exam
12 U.S. Army Special Operations in the Global War on Terror (GWOT)
Guest Speaker: Sergeant First Class Jeremy Brown
14 Video: Why the Hate?
19 Insurgency in the Contemporary World (O’Neill, Ch 1)
The Nature of Insurgency (O’Neill, Ch 2)
21 Insurgent Strategies (O’Neill, Ch 3)
26 The Environment (O’Neill, Ch 4)
28 Popular Support (O’Neill, Ch 5)
Organizational Unity (O’Neill, Ch 6)
March
5 External Support (O’Neill, Ch 7)
7 Government Response (O’Neill, Ch 8)
12 Concluding Observations (O’Neill, Ch 9)
14 Exam Review
20 (Thursday) Final Exam (12:00 – 3:00 p.m.)
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