Essay #1: Terrorists often do things that are counterproductive to their goals and strategic objectives. Provide at least 5 historical examples of this, with as much detail as you can, and explain why this is important when studying terrorism and developing effective counterterrorism strategies.
Essay #2: Describe what you know today—based on the scholarly research we have reviewed in this course and from recent events—about terrorist engagement, radicalization, deradicalization and disengagement. How do these terms and concepts differ, and how do they inform an effective counterterrorism strategy?
Essay #3: Describe 5 things that a government should do when combating terrorism in order to be most effective. Then describe 5 things that a government should not do when combating terrorism.
Essay #4: Imagine you have been hired to teach a professional development workshop about terrorism and counterterrorism to a group of local police officers. One of them, an older guy who has served in the military, comes up to you before the class and says “Heck, I know a terrorist when I see one.” Explain why this statement indicates an unfortunate level of ignorance about terrorism, and then describe how you would try to change this individual’s perception of terrorism and counterterrorism strategies.
Essay #5: What are the most critical challenges we face when trying to assess or measure the effectiveness of a government’s counterterrorism strategy?
Compile a list of questions that you would need to be prepared to answer about the global terrorism threat and about U.S.-led strategies and initiatives that are needed to respond to terrorism effectively. Your questions should be complete sentences that begin with “Who?”, “Where”, “How”, “What”, “Why”, and so forth. You should have at least 20 questions on your list.
