GOV 312L - Exam 3 questions well
answered to pass
What is terrorism? - correct answer ✔✔Terrorism is a violent act that is committed by one's
enemies but not one's own community or allies. • In international relations, terrorism is defined
as the use or threatened use of violence against non-combatants in pursuit of a political aim.
What are the distinguishing features of terrorist organizations? - correct answer ✔✔1. Terrorist
organizations take extreme positions relative to the political status quo, which are not held by
the majority of the population.
-They want revolutionary change, territorial control, political autonomy for minority ethnic or
religious groups, or regime change.
2. Terrorist groups tend to be weaker in conventional military terms than their adversaries,
which are usually states with much stronger militaries and greater financial and institutional
resources.
-Consequently, terrorists rely on random, unpredictable attacks against non-combatants
outside of the battlefield to level the playing field against a stronger adversary.
3. This combination of extremist goals and relative weakness tends to force terrorist groups to
operate as clandestine(secret) organizations, which further promotes an organizational culture
of paranoia and desperation conductive to violent action.
What is the "terrorist's dilemma"? - correct answer ✔✔Terrorists often try to calibrate the level
of violence to accomplish their political goals.
-Attacks that create too much destruction or take aim at the wrong target can actually
undermine a terrorist group's goals by alienating the broader society and bringing greater
attention from governing authorities, resulting in the arrest of leaders and operatives and even
the end of the organization.
,Why do terrorist organizations resort to political violence to achieve their political goals? -
correct answer ✔✔Asymmetrical conflict between weaker terrorist groups and stronger states,
political violence is best option available to accomplish a variety of military and political
objectives.
-Because terrorists cannot defeat the militaries of states on the battlefield they instead attack
the civilian populations these militaries are established to protect.
-Terrorists can use violent attacks to provoke an overreaction from its adversary such as an
indiscriminate military attack that harms civilians as well as members of the terrorist group or a
foreign military intervention and occupation.
What are some of the broader global patterns in terrorist attacks? - correct answer ✔✔-
Centered in contexts of civil war and failed or fragile states in places like Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria.
-Places marked by lower rates of economic development and higher levels of political instability.
-Very small fraction of those attacks and casualties occurred in US or Western Europe
What are the dilemmas of counterterrorism? - correct answer ✔✔-Counterterrorism measures
that are perceived as treating the whole (ethnic) community as a threat rather than only those
members involved in terrorist activities can increase rather than diminish support for the
terrorist group's cause and undermine the legitimacy of the state within the community and
more broadly.
-torture and enhanced interrogation methods, contravene fundamental values of human rights
and produce side effects by undermining the legitimacy of democracies and providing terrorist
groups with propaganda for recruitment.
Discuss the costs and benefits of using defensive measures like domestic intelligence and
increased security to counter terrorism. - correct answer ✔✔-collect telephone and internet
, data on all citizens, which potentially impinge on virtually every citizen's privacy and civil
liberties.
-Additional security comes at a cost
1. direct costs for additional security forces and infrastructure
-indirect costs of making commerce, travel, and other social interactions slower and more
burdensome.
2. Increased security may only shift the targets of terrorist groups' tactics.
What are tradeoffs associated with using external military force abroad to counter terrorism? -
correct answer ✔✔-The extensive destruction of interventions can produce widespread
disillusionment within foreign populations that promotes recruitment and support for the
terrorist groups such attacks were meant to eradicate.
-US intervention stretched American military resources, allowing terrorist groups in each
theater crucial opportunities to maintain a foothold or expand their influence.
Why are terrorist organizations hard to deter? - correct answer ✔✔1. Terrorists are extremely
committed to their goals, even to the point of sacrificing their own lives to achieve them
(threats of physical harm doesn't really work cause they are willing to die anyway)
2. Terrorist groups have no permanent home base that can be destroyed in response to an
attack.
3. Deterrent threats of harsh retaliation may be counterproductive because, as noted earlier,
one strategy of terrorist groups is to provoke states to respond to an attack with
disproportionate force.
What factors have contributed to the recent round of protests in Gaza? - correct answer ✔✔-
70th anniversary of Israeli independence and first Arab-Israeli War
answered to pass
What is terrorism? - correct answer ✔✔Terrorism is a violent act that is committed by one's
enemies but not one's own community or allies. • In international relations, terrorism is defined
as the use or threatened use of violence against non-combatants in pursuit of a political aim.
What are the distinguishing features of terrorist organizations? - correct answer ✔✔1. Terrorist
organizations take extreme positions relative to the political status quo, which are not held by
the majority of the population.
-They want revolutionary change, territorial control, political autonomy for minority ethnic or
religious groups, or regime change.
2. Terrorist groups tend to be weaker in conventional military terms than their adversaries,
which are usually states with much stronger militaries and greater financial and institutional
resources.
-Consequently, terrorists rely on random, unpredictable attacks against non-combatants
outside of the battlefield to level the playing field against a stronger adversary.
3. This combination of extremist goals and relative weakness tends to force terrorist groups to
operate as clandestine(secret) organizations, which further promotes an organizational culture
of paranoia and desperation conductive to violent action.
What is the "terrorist's dilemma"? - correct answer ✔✔Terrorists often try to calibrate the level
of violence to accomplish their political goals.
-Attacks that create too much destruction or take aim at the wrong target can actually
undermine a terrorist group's goals by alienating the broader society and bringing greater
attention from governing authorities, resulting in the arrest of leaders and operatives and even
the end of the organization.
,Why do terrorist organizations resort to political violence to achieve their political goals? -
correct answer ✔✔Asymmetrical conflict between weaker terrorist groups and stronger states,
political violence is best option available to accomplish a variety of military and political
objectives.
-Because terrorists cannot defeat the militaries of states on the battlefield they instead attack
the civilian populations these militaries are established to protect.
-Terrorists can use violent attacks to provoke an overreaction from its adversary such as an
indiscriminate military attack that harms civilians as well as members of the terrorist group or a
foreign military intervention and occupation.
What are some of the broader global patterns in terrorist attacks? - correct answer ✔✔-
Centered in contexts of civil war and failed or fragile states in places like Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria.
-Places marked by lower rates of economic development and higher levels of political instability.
-Very small fraction of those attacks and casualties occurred in US or Western Europe
What are the dilemmas of counterterrorism? - correct answer ✔✔-Counterterrorism measures
that are perceived as treating the whole (ethnic) community as a threat rather than only those
members involved in terrorist activities can increase rather than diminish support for the
terrorist group's cause and undermine the legitimacy of the state within the community and
more broadly.
-torture and enhanced interrogation methods, contravene fundamental values of human rights
and produce side effects by undermining the legitimacy of democracies and providing terrorist
groups with propaganda for recruitment.
Discuss the costs and benefits of using defensive measures like domestic intelligence and
increased security to counter terrorism. - correct answer ✔✔-collect telephone and internet
, data on all citizens, which potentially impinge on virtually every citizen's privacy and civil
liberties.
-Additional security comes at a cost
1. direct costs for additional security forces and infrastructure
-indirect costs of making commerce, travel, and other social interactions slower and more
burdensome.
2. Increased security may only shift the targets of terrorist groups' tactics.
What are tradeoffs associated with using external military force abroad to counter terrorism? -
correct answer ✔✔-The extensive destruction of interventions can produce widespread
disillusionment within foreign populations that promotes recruitment and support for the
terrorist groups such attacks were meant to eradicate.
-US intervention stretched American military resources, allowing terrorist groups in each
theater crucial opportunities to maintain a foothold or expand their influence.
Why are terrorist organizations hard to deter? - correct answer ✔✔1. Terrorists are extremely
committed to their goals, even to the point of sacrificing their own lives to achieve them
(threats of physical harm doesn't really work cause they are willing to die anyway)
2. Terrorist groups have no permanent home base that can be destroyed in response to an
attack.
3. Deterrent threats of harsh retaliation may be counterproductive because, as noted earlier,
one strategy of terrorist groups is to provoke states to respond to an attack with
disproportionate force.
What factors have contributed to the recent round of protests in Gaza? - correct answer ✔✔-
70th anniversary of Israeli independence and first Arab-Israeli War
