Instructor
Rotem Dvir
Email: rdvir@tamu.edu; Web: https://rotemdvir.wixsite.com/mysite
Course Description
This is an upper-level course in International Relations (IR). The course offers an overview of the field of international relations. The primary purpose is to understand and evaluate the main theories, arguments, claims, and conjectures made by scholars in the field. The central question we will address is what are the main ways in which scholars organize and assess knowledge in the field? In the first half of the course, we will discuss the main theories used to understand international politics, including their application to central world events. In the second half, we go deeper on some specific issues such as international institutions, economic statecraft, and various aspects of international and national conflict including coercion, reputation, terrorism, modern technology and covert action.
Textbook: Chenoweth Erica and Pauline Moore. 2018. The Politics of Terror. Oxford university press.
Course Material
Week 1
- Lecture 1 (01.13.2020): Introduction (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 2 (01.15.2020): The concept of Terrorism and issues of definition (Lecture Slides)
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 1.
Week 2
Reading:
- Connor Huff and Joshua D. Kertzer “How the Public Defines Terrorism?”. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2018), pp. 55-71.
-
Assaf Moghadam, Ronit Berger, and Polina Beliakova. “Say Terrorist, Think Insurgent: Labeling and Analyzing Contemporary Terrorist Actors”. Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 8, No. 5 (2014), pp. 1-14.
- Lecture 4 (01.22.2020): The Analytical Study of Terrorism (Lecture Slides).
Readings:
- Todd Sandler, “The Analytical Study of Terrorism: Taking Stock”. Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 51, No. 2 (2014), pp. 257-271.
-
Martha Crenshaw, “The Causes of Terrorism”, Comparative Politics, Vol. 13, No. 4 (1981), pp. 379-399.
- Lecture 5 (01.24.2020): The Analytical Study of Terrorism (Lecture Slides).
Readings:
- Marc Stageman, “The Stagnation in Terrorism Research”, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 26, No. 4 (2014), pp. 565-580.
Week 3
- Lecture 6 (01.27.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Strategic Approach (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 7 (01.29.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Strategic Approach v.2. (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 8 (01.31.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Organizational Approaches (Lecture Slides).
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 2.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 3.
Week 4
- Lecture 9 (02.03.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Organizational Approaches v.2. (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 10 (02.05.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Psychological Approaches (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 11 (02.07.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Psychological Approaches v.2. (Lecture Slides).
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 3.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 4.
Week 5
- Lecture 12 (02.10.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Ideological Approaches (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 13 (02.12.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Ideological Approaches v.2. (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 14 (02.14.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Structural Approaches (Lecture Slides).
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 5.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 6.
Week 6
- Lecture 15 (02.17.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Structural Approaches v.2. (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 16 (02.19.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Critical Approaches (Lecture Slides).
- Lecture 17 (02.21.2020): Analyzing Terrorism - Summary (Terrorism Movie Link).
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 6.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 7.
Week 7
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 8.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 9.
Week 8
Reading:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 9.
- Lindsay Shorr Newman, “Do Terrorist Attacks Increase Closer to Elections?”, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 25, No. 1 (2013), pp. 8-28.
- Anna Getmansky and Thomas Zeitzoff, “Terrorism and Voting: The Effect of Rocket Threat on Voting in Israeli Elections”, American Political Science Review, Vol. 108, no. 3 (2014), pp. 588-604.
Week 9
Week 10
Readings:
- Leonie Huddy, Stanley Feldman, Charles Taber and Gallya Lahav, “Threat, Anxeity, and Support of Antiterrorism Policies”, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 49, No. 3 (2005), pp. 593-608.
- Leonie Huddy, Stanley Feldman, Theresa Capelos and Colin Provost,”The Consequences of Terrorism: Disentangling the Effects of Personal and National Threat”, Political Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 3 (2002), pp. 485-509.
- Darren W. Davis and Brian D. Silver, “Civil Liberties vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America”, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2004), pp. 28-46.
- Blake Garcia and Nehemia Geva, “Security Versus Liberty in the Context of Counterterrorism: An Experimental Approach”, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 30-48.
- Barak Mendelsohn, “The Future of Al-Qaeda: Lessons from the Muslim Brotherhood”, Survival, Vol. 60, No. 2 (2018), pp. 151-178.
- Colin P. Clarke and Assaf Moghadam, “Mapping Today’s Jihadi Landscape and Threat”. Orbis, Vol. 62, No. 3, (2018) pp. 347-371.
Week 11
Readings:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 11.
- Michael Freeman and Moyara Ruehsen, “Terrorism Financing Methods: An Overview”, Perspectives On Terrorism, Vol. 7, No. 4 (2013), pp. 5-26.
Week 12
Readings:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 13.
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 14.
Week 13
Readings:
- Lee Jarvis, Stuart Macdonald and Lella Nouri, “The Cyberterrorism Threat: Findings from a Survey of Researchers”, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2014), pp. 68-90.
- Victor H. Asal, Gary A. Ackerman and R. Karl Rethemeyer, “Connections Can Be Toxic: Terrorist Organizational Factors and the Pursuit of CRBN Weapons”, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Vol. 35, No. 3 (2012), pp. 229-254.
- Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert, “Bombing Alone: Tracing the Motivations and Antecedent Behaviors of Lone-Actor Terrorists”, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 59, No. 2 (2014), pp. 425-435.
Week 14
Readings:
The Politics of Terror, Chapter 15.