HON351, American Values in Global Perspective
Spring Semester 2008
Study Guide
Democracy and Terrorism
Reading Assignment:
F. Gregory Gause, "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 5, Sept/Oct 2005, pp. 62-76 (electronic reserves)
Philip Gordon, "Can the War on Terror be Won?" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 6, November/December 2007, pp. 53-66 (electronic reserves)
Other articles (optional):
"The Myth of Muslim Support of Terror," Christian Science Monitor, February 23, 2007
Questions to consider while reading the Gause article:
1. What arguments do President Bush and others make in linking terrorism to a lack of democracy in countries with authoritarian governments?
2. What do systematic studies of terrorist incidents suggest about the relative frequency of terrorism in democratic countries as opposed to authoritarian ones? How do India and China compare in numbers of terrorist incidents?
3. Why does the author belief that introducing democracy in a country doesn't necessary reduce motivations for terrorism?
4. To what extent do Arab peoples favor democracy, as suggested by opinion polls?
5. What types of political parties does the author believe will be successful if national elections are to be held in Arab countries? What are the prospects that the democratically elected governments in these countries would be more pro-American than the authoritarian ones that precede them?
6. What suggestions does the author have for American efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East?
Questions to consider while reading the Gordon article:
1. How does the author define "victory over terrorism."
2. What parallels does Gordon draw between the Cold War and the War on Terrorism?
3. What are the ultimate goals of Bin Laden and al Qaeda?
4. Why does the author argue against having a goal of completely ending terrorism?
5. Why does the author believe that al Qaeda and Islamic funadementalism will ultimately fail?
6. What alternative stategies does the author recommend to achieve a victory over terrorism?