POLIS 2013 - Terrorism and Global Politics

This course explores the influence of political violence – broadly defined – within contemporary international relations. The course traces the rise of existential threats to the state from non-state actors, it considers the spectrum of state and transnational initiatives and responses to ameliorate those threats, and reflects on how prevailing global political conflicts are refracted through the prism(s) of counter-terrorism. The course begins by examining the historical evolution of terrorism, its causes/rationales and the major theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of the phenomenon. It then provides a comprehensive exploration of the development of historical and contemporary terrorist groups, including the recent ‘fourth wave’ of terrorism (e.g. al-Qaeda and ISIS). The final part of the course focuses explicitly on counter-terrorism responses and counter- terrorism policies in the context of international security policy formulation. This takes the form of case studies that tease out the implications of terrorism for the security policy postures of key states in Australia's strategic neighbourhood, of Australia's main security allies in the Anglosphere and in the United Nations. Theoretically and conceptually, the course explores explanations of the nature and causes of terrorism as well as the logics underpinning individual (state) and collective (international) responses. It does so through an explicitly multi- disciplinary approach that incorporates historical (‘new’ and ‘old’ terrorism); conceptual (state- sponsored vs. non-state; global vs. regional; biological, environmental, cultural, political); and geographical (Middle East and Africa, Eurasia, South America) frameworks.