There are many useful sources of information you can use to help complete this assignment, some of which are already available through this web site. For links to current news and information, for example, you should check my Media Links pages, one on mainstream news and the other other one alternative media. I also have a special page devoted to the recent terrorist attacks, which is designed primarily for my POLS 492 class, but which may also be useful for your assignment. Additional readings related to "terrorism" or political violence are also available on my POLS 492 Online Readings page.

The following are a list of additional sites and pages that you may find helpful. Be advised, though, that the information on many of these sites may provide primarily "background material" for your papers. It is up to you to find key sources of "empirical" support:

• Center for Defense Information: Terrorism Project

• US Dept. of State: Counter Terrorism Office

• America's Response to Terrorism (Brookings Institute)

• Terrorism Library

• Wagingpeace.org: Perspectives on Terrorist Attacks • also on this site is an article by Richard Falk, a leading scholar in the World Order school; those of you interested in reading an analysis of the terrorist attack from a world order perspective, should look at this article.

• After Sept. 11: Perspectives from the Social Sciences • This page contains a number of analytical essays on the Sept. 11 attack written by leading social scientists representing a range of worldviews.

• The War on Terrorism may bring a new Isolationism

• The US and the War on Terrorism • This selection comes from the Monthly Review, a leading journal devoted Marxist analysis of political, social and economic issues

NOTE: I have received only one question about the assignment thus far, which means that I do not have enough material for a FAQ page. If you have questions, please let me know as soon as possible.

The main requirement for your mid-term assignment is straightforward: Using the various worldviews we have studied (and will study in the coming weeks), analyze the ongoing "war on terrorism." In completing this assignment, however, there are several related requirements you must fulfill. These are as follows:

First, at a minimum, you must analyze the war on terrorism based on the following analytical categories: (1) Political Realism/Neo-realism; (2) Burkean Cold Warriorism/Reassertionism; (3) Neo-Isolationism; (4) Radicalism/Marxism; and (5) World Order.

Second, using each of these categories, you must address the following questions:

1. What are the primary causes or factors that led to the terrorist attack against the United States? That is, why was the US selected as a target? (Make sure you consider both historical and contemporary issues, events and processes.)
2. What, if anything, could or should the United States have done to prevent or minimize the risk of the attack before it happened?
3. What is the most effective way for the United States to respond to the attack? Is the current response the most appropriate one, or is there a need for an alternative response?
4. How is America’s current policy concerning global terrorism likely to impact the international system and American relations with other countries?

NOTE: It may be that one or another worldview does not provide an adequate answer to the questions above; if this is the case, you must still explain why this is so.

Third, you must provide a conclusion to your paper that specifies which, if any, of the competing worldviews provides the best framework for analyzing the ongoing war on terrorism. In your conclusion you must also provide a justification for your selection.

Finally, your paper must incorporate outside sources and data that support the analyses you make and the conclusion you reach. There is no minimum or maximum number of sources; however, in my evaluation, I will consider the effort you put into finding appropriate, relevant, and sufficient material to support your arguments and analyses.

Your midterm assignment will be due on Feb. 28th at the beginning of class. Late papers will be severely penalized. In the next week or so, I will provide additional information, hints, and suggestions for completing this assignment on my web site (and only on my web site). If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me, either in person or via e-mail. If you wait until the last minute, though, I may not have sufficient time to help you.