IIPS 30401 - Terrorism, Peace and Other Inconsistencies, Fall 2006

IIPS 30401: Terrorism, Peace, and Other Inconsistencies Professor George Lopez Fall 2006 Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies University of Notre Dame Course Structure: Two 75-minute classes per week Prerequisites: None

"Postcards," Masayuki Sono's Staten Island 9/11 Memorial.
Image courtesy of Farl.

Course Description

This course addresses a set of inter-related questions that have become central to peace and security in the modern era, at both the domestic and international levels:

* What is the history and rationale for contemporary terrorism, including suicide terrorism?

* What does the rise of al-Qaeda terror mean for a host of problematic issues including the relationship between the Western and Islamic worlds, the future of peace in the Middle East, the future of various western foreign policy actions?

* What is the rationale behind the US 'war on terror' [+ other versions] and by what criteria can its success be judged?

* Is the new global security threat (or at least for the West) the combination of: weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) + Terrorism + Rogue/Failed States? What policies best deal with this or like threats?

* What does 'peace' mean in an age of terror and wars on terror? How might we achieve peace in these times?

* How does/should the global community deal with state terrorism in its varied forms?