Term paper about terrorism

The term paper can be on any terrorism topic that you are interested in. This includes any of the topics covered in the course syllabus: Defining Terrorism; Contending Theories and Approaches; Historical Roots of Terrorism; Characteristics of Secular (political, ethnic, nationalist, state-sponsored) Terrorism; Characteristics of Religious Terrorism; Media and Terrorism; Crisis and Terrorism; Psychological Dimension of Terrorism; Responding to and Preventing Terrorism; Future of Terrorism. You could also choose a terrorism topic not included on the course syllabus (e.g., the role of women in terrorist groups; how effective has been a particular terrorist group in achieving its goals). Some specific examples of paper topics could be an analysis of the effects that the “war on terrorism” has had on civil liberties and U.S. foreign policy; what role, if any, does media play in creating terrorism crises; what are the dynamics of the relationships among different U.S. agencies and departments in combating terrorism; what lessons, if any, can we learn from how other countries have dealt with terrorism. You are free to choose any topic you want as long as it relates to terrorism. I want to give you the opportunity to choose a terrorism topic that you will be interested in, want to learn more about, and will be motivated to write a good paper. I will be available during office hours to discuss your paper topics if you like and also to help you come up with a topic if you are having difficulty deciding on one.

You should include footnotes and a bibliography in your paper. You must use a minimum of 5 outside scholarly sources for your paper. Outside sources are books and articles not used for this course. Outside scholarly sources can include articles published in academic journals, research institute and government publications, and serious books written on terrorism. Outside scholarly sources are NOT Internet sources such as Wikipedia, blogs, comments, etc. They can, however, be scholarly articles originally published in academic journals that are now on the Internet or government publications and research institute reports that are also now on the Internet. The paper should be well written and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic you are writing on. It should balance description with analysis. Your views and position on the topic should be clear to anybody reading your paper. When you read the articles listed on the syllabus, you will see that the authors describe the topic they are dealing with and also present a position on that topic; i.e. a logical and coherent argument in support of their views. Your paper should do the same.