Sunday night reading assignment:
Optional and fun: For laughs, go here for a compelling argument that many terrorists are "nitwits": http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-case-for-calling-them-nitwits/8130/
In a more serious vein, try to get a sense of a theoretical approach to suicide terrorism by reading at least one interview with Robert Pape, of the University of Chicago.
Optional and fun: For laughs, go here for a compelling argument that many terrorists are "nitwits": http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-case-for-calling-them-nitwits/8130/
In a more serious vein, try to get a sense of a theoretical approach to suicide terrorism by reading at least one interview with Robert Pape, of the University of Chicago.
Read one of the following two interviews with Bob Pape
Or this: And here is another interview with Pape. Note his emphasis on democracies and why they make tempting targets for suicide bombers: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Pape/pape-con3.html
Recommended: For an altogether different approach to understanding terrorism, go to this interview with Brian Jenkins in 2006, many years after the publication of his most seminal work.
Optional - this is a cool piece in Wired on the "next-gen terror watchers" and their "granular" approach to understanding and combating terrorism.
Optional - This isn't assigned reading, but it's a definitive contribution to our understanding of terrorism by the always insightful Brian Jenkins. The article, a long, scholarly piece, is "International Terrorism: the Other World War," published by the RAND Corporation. Save a copy of the pdf only if you can use it in the future.
Here is another RAND paper, published in 2006. It's a realist-oriented study of terrorism and is a valuable insight into how political scientists look at terrorism as a rational strategy. Don't bother reading it now (it's 36 pages) but it might be of use if you continue to study the topic.
Optional - This isn't assigned reading, but it's a definitive contribution to our understanding of terrorism by the always insightful Brian Jenkins. The article, a long, scholarly piece, is "International Terrorism: the Other World War," published by the RAND Corporation. Save a copy of the pdf only if you can use it in the future.
Here is another RAND paper, published in 2006. It's a realist-oriented study of terrorism and is a valuable insight into how political scientists look at terrorism as a rational strategy. Don't bother reading it now (it's 36 pages) but it might be of use if you continue to study the topic.
