State-Sponsored Terrorism

For this week's discussion on terrorism we need to consider terrorism as an initiative by a group to change or modify political policy.

It can be used by governments to adjust the will of groups; it can be used by groups in an effort to affect official state policy; and it can be used by one government to influence policy in another state government. Depending on where one stands, the methods and techniques can be justified or condemned.

Martin lays the foundation for this discussion with a wide variety of perspectives and models to characterize terrorism as just one more element in the political spectrum.

To grasp an understanding of terrorism we must look at the intended audience and how it is used; the tools available for terrorist to affect domestic or foreign policy; how terrorism groups are funded; and understand how terrorism shapes domestic and foreign policy.

Select one terrorist organization from the provided partial List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations , adapted from the U.S. Department of State.

It is recommended you initiate your research on that specific organization using the chapters in Part II of your Martin text before expanding your research to external resources.

You may find this sufficient to provide an analysis of that terrorist organization based on one or more applicable models identified in Chapter 4 of the Martin text. This discussion lays the groundwork for your Weeks Four and Five assignments, as well as the Final Paper in Week Six.