Program Overview
GPM418 Contemporary Terrorism
This subject will further develop and enhance the students' knowledge and understanding of contemporary terrorism and expand and refine their understanding of the complex contemporary context of terrorism and other security-related issues. Students will develop a critical and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of contemporary terrorist groups, tactics, and strategies and possible future terrorist threats. Students will critically consider existing terrorist practice and doctrine using theoretical frameworks. Students will be encouraged to theory development, and to synthesise their knowledge and understanding through the production of extensive and sophisticated research-based assessments.
Subject Outlines
Subject Outlines and assessment tasks are updated each session.
Availability
- Session 1 (30)
- On Campus: Canberra Campus
- Online: Canberra Campus
- Session 2 (60)
- Online: Canberra Campus
Subject Information
Grading System
- HD/FL
Duration
- One session
School
- Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
- possess specialised knowledge of current international terrorism and be capable of applying existing approaches to the researching and analysing of terrorism threats, particularly as it pertains to al-Qaeda and its associate and affiliate organisations, and other entities in the international terrorism environment
- possess skills and knowledge in relation to the analysis, consolidation, and synthesis of knowledge, and understanding of contemporary international terrorism
- be capable of critically analysing and considering contemporary international terrorist groups, tactics, and strategies, and of evaluating the complexity of current international terrorism and emerging terrorism threats
- be capable of communicating an understanding of key theoretical approaches to understanding contemporary terrorist practice and doctrine and approaches to terrorism analysis, the researching of these disciplines, and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to terrorism
- be capable of communicating complex knowledge and ideas pertaining to current international terrorism and emerging terrorism threats to a variety of audiences
- be capable of making high-level, independent assessments, and providing sophisticated, empirically based analysis of current and emergent terrorism threats in a range of counter-terrorism functions in scholarly, law enforcement, intelligence, military, and other related contexts.
Syllabus
This subject will cover the following topics:
- Globalization, terrorism, and transnational security
- a. Globalization: with light comes darkness
- b. Terrorism in the global age: something new, something old?
- c. Transnational security: beyond the nation-state
- al-Qaeda and Affiliates: an overview
- a. A corporation vs a network
- b. The virtual safe haven: al-Qaeda goes online
- c. A winter of discontent: al-Qaeda after Arab Spring
- al-Qaeda affiliates
- a. al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
- b. al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
- c. al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)/Jabhat al Nusra/Islamic State of Iraq (IS)/Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- d. al-Shabaab
- e. Islamic Emirate of the Caucus
- al-Qaeda associates
- a. Lashkar-e-Taiba
- c. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
- d. Haqqani Network
- e. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
- The Home Front: al-Qaeda inspired lone wolves and small cells
- a. Media jihad and cyber jihad
- b. The United States
- c. The United Kingdom
- d. Europe
- e. Australia