[SOLVED] Superficial Response
You must write a medium-length (3-4 page) paper on TWO of the three topics listed below. The first is quality and persuasiveness of your arguments. Each topic must have a strong argument expressing your interpretation and reasoning. A casual or superficial response will be insufficient to earn you a strong grade. The second major criterion is your mastery of the material from the coursethis is a comprehensive final exam and in it I expect you to demonstrate a thorough understanding of all the material we have covered in the class. You must show an ability to think in abstract terms and to write about terrorism as a general phenomenon as we did throughout the termhere the pivotal readings are Merari, Richardson, Crenshaw/Post, and Moghadam. In addition, you must use historical case studies to provide you with specific examples to support your position on the topic In total, your final is to be no more than 8 pages long, with the same general stylistic parameters we have used all quarter10-12 point font, 1 margins, double-spaced. You must cite specifics from the lectures as well as the course readings in your paper, for which you may use parenthetical references. Please do not use sources not assigned for the class. Final Topic B One of the themes of this course has been how terrorism ends. Earlier in the term we saw several cases of successthe Provisional IRA succeeded in bringing about a negotiated process in which its main goals were considered, even if the result fell short of what the IRA wanted. The FLN in Algeria and Irgun and Lehi in Mandate Palestine succeeded completely in their goals of establishing states. For this topic, I would like you to compare these cases of success with cases of failurethe destruction of the LTTE in Sri Lanka and the implosion of the Weather Underground and RAF. Why did the IRA, the FLN, Irgun, and Lehi achieve some degree of success while the LTTE, the Red Army Faction, and the Weather Underground failed? To develop this argument, you will need to review the specific material for all of the groups included above. Also, you will need to review the material from early in the semester on terrorism as a general phenomenon so that you can make a meaningful comparison. In particular, evaluate the above groups in terms of primary motivationswhich groups had clear and achievable political goals and managed not to be sidetracked by secondary motivations? Also, think of terrorism as political violence, as violence that is used to represent and promote the agendas of a particular community. Which of these groups managed to make a strong claim toward representing their communities and why? For topic B: I have all the attachments pdf and pptx Final Topic C After the September 11 attacks, it was very common for analysts, politicians, and other public figures to speak of a new terrorism, as represented by Al Qaedas global jihadism. Al Qaedas terrorism was truly international rather than having a specific local focus such as nationalist terrorism. At the same time there were significant similarities between al Qaeda and local jihadi groups like Hamas and Hizballah. All three groups have religion as a primary motivation and all three have made extensive use of suicide bombing as a brutal and intimidating weapon. More recently al Qaedas Iraqi chapter evolved into ISIS and diverged from al Qaeda, and seemed to have qualities of all the aforementioned groups: it had international ambitionsestablishing a caliphatelike al Qaeda, but has also set about conquering, holding, and administering territory, like Hamas and Hizballah. Your task for this topic is to compare these organizations to answer the following: Was ISIS as it emerged and evolved from 2003-2014 more like al Qaeda, or was it more like local jihadi organizations like Hizballah and Hamas? To compare the groups, you need to consider the overall ideologies/goals of the groups, their relationships with the groups of people that they claim to represent, and their capabilities, military, political, social, and so on. For this section, be sure to cover the relevant lecture/PowerPoint material on all four groups. In terms of reading, you must use Warrick, Black Flags for AQ in Iraq/ISIS, and the reserve for Al Qaeda by Lawrence Wright, Krista Wiegands article and Bymans chapter on Hizballah, and Robin Wright and Jessica Sterns coverage of Hamas. (NoteSterns coverage of al Qaeda in Terror in the Name of God is very dated and inaccurate; please dont use it for the paper!) However you approach this topic, on the whole you will probably find some similarities and differences among the groups, and your argument should reflect this; at the same time I will expect you to weigh the similarities and differences in order to answer the basic question decisively. for topic C Required books: Joby Warrick, Black Flags (Required) Daniel Byman, Deadly Connections chapter on Hizballah (Required) Jessica Stern, Terror in the Name of God chapter on the coverage of Hamas. (Required) Global Jihadism SU 2020.pptx Wright-The Terror Years Ch. 1.pdf Wiegand Reformation of a Terrorist Group.pdf Hizballah-3.pptx