Macquarie University

Terrorism in the 21st Century - PICX113

This unit provides an introduction to terrorism and political violence in the twenty-first century. It explores the global origins and history of terrorism as a means of coercion, evaluates its effectiveness and examines key terrorist organisations and individuals in contemporary case studies. Students will gain an understanding of twenty-first century terrorism as a strategy and as a tactic, terrorist recruitment and group dynamics, the role of global media, cyber terrorism, and terrorist narratives. Special attention will be focussed on the sources of successful and ethical counter-terrorism strategies; understanding mechanisms of radicalisation to and from violent extremism, evaluating proportionate state response to terror threats and exploring global relationships between counter terrorism, policing and intelligence. This unit, together with PICX110, PICX111 and PICX112, provides a systematic introduction to the field of security studies.

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