AMERICA IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM
Fall, 2007 TTr 10:00-11:40
Terrorism is where politics and violence intersect in the hope of delivering power. All terrorism involves the quest for power: power to dominate and coerce, to intimidate and control, and ultimately to effect fundamental political change. --Bruce Hoffman
To kill Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it. --Osama bin Laden
In countering terrorism, the democratic state faces an inescapable dilemma. It has to deal effectively with the terrorist threat to citizens and to vulnerable potential targets…without at the same time destroying basic civil rights, the democratic process and the rule of law. --Paul Wilkinson
The Constitution has never greatly bothered any wartime president. --Francis Biddle
For half a century, American foreign policy was driven by a single goal: to contain expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence. With the end of the Cold War, Americans anticipated an extended period of “Pax Americana,” maintained by our military might and by our distance from the world’s dangerous flash points. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 signaled the demise of this illusion. We find ourselves again threatened by forces outside our borders. This time, however, the threat comes not from another superpower, or even a traditional nation-state, whose leaders share with ours the desire to avoid world destruction. In contrast, this new war on terrorism will involve an extended conflict with no certain ending and an ill-defined enemy who may be armed with weapons of mass destruction, and who may harbor apocalyptic aspirations. The realization that our borders can be penetrated by agents of a nebulous underground network of groups willing to employ seemingly random acts of violence against civilian targets to achieve their political aims has produced a new atmosphere of anxiety.
How will this new reality shape America? Will our constitutional regime of separated powers be altered or sacrificed to accommodate our legitimate needs for safety? Will citizens ever again enjoy the breadth of liberties guaranteed under the first, fourth fifth and sixth amendments to the Constitution, and to which we have become accustomed? Will targeted ethnic groups or resident aliens pay an excessive price for our zeal to defend our own safety? Do we risk the loss of our national identity in this new conflict, and most important, if we pay for security with our national soul, do we “win” the war on terror? What would “victory” look like?
I intend to explore these and other questions in this Senior Seminar. Although terrorism has become increasingly international, I will leave issues of foreign policy to my able colleagues. Nor can I purport to offer a comprehensive course on effective counterterrorism policies. The focus of this seminar will be primarily on the domestic response to international terrorism and on the narrower question of how it may transform our constitutional values. Three specific issues will dominate our investigation:
What is this new threat of terrorism, and how does it differ from previous threats to our security?
What ramifications will our military response to terrorism have for our system of separated powers and checks and balances on executive war powers?
What changes will our domestic security needs impose on traditional civil liberties as freedom of expression and political association, religious pluralism and freedom from surveillance, due process protections as the right against arbitrary searches and arrests, coerced confessions or fair trials?
There are no specific course pre-requisites, but students should be able to draw on many of the courses they have previously taken in their study of political science, geography, religious studies, history or economics. All that is required is an open mind and a willingness to ask difficult questions.
ASSIGNMENTS
The following should be purchased in the SMC Bookstore:
Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism
Bernard Lewis, The Crisis in Islam
Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God
Richard Pious, The War on Terrorism and the Rule of Law
Additional assignments will be taken from the following, on reserve in the Durick Library:
Barry Rubin & Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East
Some assignments are on the web. Use the links from the on-line version of this syllabus. I am reasonably sure they all work, but if one does not, email as soon as you can so I can fix it.
This year’s Sutherland Lecture in the Liberal Arts will feature Dr. Akbar S. Ahmed, Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. Originally from Pakistan, Dr. Ahmed is a major voice in the dialogue between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. I have read several of his books and his lecture promises to be very useful for this seminal. He will be here on October 20, 2008, speaking at 7 p.m. You will be there, taking notes.
Additionally, in commemoration of the attacks of September 11, 2001, I invite you to attend the screening of a film, Divided We Fall, in McCarthy Arts, at 6:00.
Finally, we will view several films, mostly from the PBS Frontline series:
Inside the Terror Network
Jihad: the men and ideas behind al Qaeda
The Man Who Knew
The Trail of a Terrorist
Looking for Answers
Target America
Return of the Taliban
Taxi to the Dark Side
POLICIES
A seminar places greater responsibility on the student than most ordinary courses do. Students will be expected to keep up with all assigned reading, and do independent research on a topic pertinent to the seminar. For us, acceptable topics might include theoretical treatments of terrorism, recent acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United States, or America’s response to terrorism in the wake of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. An additional responsibility in a seminar is greater class participation, including a final presentation of your research for discussion. Final grades will reflect the following priorities:
Midterm exam (early October) 25%
Final exam (early in November) 25%
General participation 10%
Formal presentation 10%
Research paper 40%
Details on the research project will be forthcoming, in a separate document. Suffice it to note here that initial drafts will be turned in no later than October 30th, and final drafts will be due no later than November 25th. Grade penalties of one letter grade for each day late will be imposed. November 25th, December 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 11th will be devoted to class presentations of student research.
Attendance is imperative in a seminar setting. I permit up to three unexcused absences, then I impose a grade penalty of half a letter off the final grade for each additional unexcused absence.
I can be reached anytime in SE 346 (I arrive about 7:00 AM and leave around 3:00, but I can stay longer). Email is a great means of communication—I use it extensively, so be sure to check your account regularly. You can also reach me at home on teh telephone.
Finally a senior seminar should be fun. There will be hard work, to be sure, but I hope we can also have a good time discussing, and yes—debating—the subjects covered in this course.
SYLLABUS
I. America on September 12th 2001
A. “After 9/11 everything changed:” a cliché in search of meaning
Presidential Daily Briefing, August 6, 2001
Muhammad Atta, “Suicide Note” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg.233)
Ahmad al-Haznawi al-Ghamidi, “Suicide Videotape” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 276)
Videotape of Private Meeting with Osama bin Laden (in Rubin & Rubin pg. 243)
Video: PBS Frontline: The Man Who Knew
II. Hegemonic America and the Middle East
Bernard Lewis, The Crises of Islam
M. Shahid Alam, Challenging the New Orientalism, ch 1, “Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?” (library reserve)
Sayyid Qutb, “Paving the Way,” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 29-32)
Video: PBS Frontline: Looking For Answers
Video: PBS Frontline: Target America
III. UNDERSTANDING TERRORISM
A. Defining Terrorism?
Bruce Hoffman, chapter 1, 6
Geneva Conventions: Protocol on Civilian Populations
B. Genres of Terrorism
1. State Terrorism
Bruce Hoffman, pg. 258-267
2. Ethno-nationalist Terrorism
Bruce Hoffman, chapters 2, 3
3. Ideological Terrorism: Left and Right
4. Religious Terrorism
Bruce Hoffman, chapter 4, 5
Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God (Chaps. 1, 2, 4, 7-11) (additional chapters optional)
C. Terrorism Transformed—Contemporary Trends
5. The New Terrorism: Radical Islam
Bruce Hoffman, Chapter 7, pg. 282-95
David Zeidan, “The Islamist View of Life as a Perennial Struggle,” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 11)
Ayman al-Zawahiri, “Why Attack America,” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 131)
Osama bin Ladin, “Declaration of War Against the United States,” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 137)
Interview with Osama bin Laden (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 151)
World Islamic Front, “Jihad against Jews and Crusaders” (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 149)
Al-Qaida Recruitment Video, (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 174)
Video: Jihad: the men and ideas behind al Qaeda
“The Evolution of Islamic Terrorism”
6. Pakistan, Afghanistan & a Resurgent Taliban & al Qaeda
Video: Return of the Taliban“
The Next Threat: Political Instability in Central & South Asia
National
Intelligence Estimate (unclassified bits)
Whitehouse Fact Sheet
7. CBRNs: Weapons of Mass Destruction, Disruption or Distraction
Bruce Hoffman, chapters 8, pg. 267-81
Chemical Weapons
Convention on Chemical Weapons
Biological Weapons
Convention on Biological Weapons
Nuclear & Radiation Dispersal Bombs
“Preparing for Nuclear Terrorism”
IV. RESPONDING TO TERROR: DETERRENCE, PREVENTION & CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT
1. Constitutional & Legal Standards
U.S. Constitution: Art I, Section 8
U.S. Constitution: Art II, Section 2
U.S. Constitution: Art. II, Section 3
2. War Powers and the Imperial Executive
Richard Pious, Chapter 1
United States v. Curtiss-Wright
Youngstown v. Sawyer (Opinion of J. Jackson)
Resolution in Support of War in Afghanistan, Pious pg. 9
Views of Vice President Cheney
Reply by David Cole (scroll down to article)
5. Military Tribunals
U.S. Constitution: Art 1, Sect 9 (suspension of habeas corpus)
Geneva Convention III Relative to the Treatment of POWs
Richard Pious, chapter 10
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
1. Cautionary Tales from the Past and Present
Al-Qaida, Training Manual (in Rubin & Rubin, pg. 157)
Video: PBS Frontline: Inside the Terror Network
“The Constraints Facing U.S. Intelligence”
3. Surveillance
U.S. Constitution: Amendment 4
Richard Pious, chapters 2 & 3
U.S. v. U.S. District Court, Eastern Michigan
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (summary)
4. Interrogation, Torture and Presidential Signing Statements
U.S. Constitution: Amendment 4, 5 & 8
Richard Pious, chapter
9
Common Article III
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Executive Order: Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3
Torture Victims Protection Act
Memorandum of Jay S. Bybee, OLC, to Alberto Gonzales
Whitehouse Accusations against Saddam Hussein
Presidential Signing Statement on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2006 (McCain Amendment)
Note on Presidential Signing Statements
Proposed Amendments
to the War Crimes Act
Jane Mayer, “The
Black Sites”
Video: Taxi to the Dark Side
V. Presentation & Discussion of Student Research
We at last retreat into our bunkers for Christmas holiday!