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Understanding Terrorism: Causes, Solutions, and Dilemmas

About this course

Terrorism is a contemporary problem that should not be neglected. The discourse on terrorism, however, is often simplified; disregarding important questions such as factors or root causes, potentially increasing political conflicts and generating terrorism. This course aims to analyze and discuss questions such as: What are the main circumstances that provide the necessary preconditions for the emergence of various types of terrorism? What are the typical precipitants that trigger terrorist campaigns? To what extent is it possible to reduce terrorism by addressing circumstances that have a tendency to generate terrorism? Should governments focus on addressing the factors that sustain terrorism and terror campaigns or should they focus on the root causes of terrorism?

Syllabus

Summer 2025

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Faculty

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Faculty

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Hans Brun

Faculty

PhD student at the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London. His research is focused upon various aspects of counter-terrorism, asymmetrical conflicts, and intelligence based police. At the moment he is finishing his PhD thesis on the use of hard power policies in Northern Ireland during the troubles. Some of his latest publications are “A Neo-Nationalist Network: The English Defense League and Europe´s Counter-Jihad Network” (with Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, 2013) and “Terrorism Learning and Innovation: Lessons from PIRA in Northern Ireland” (with Magnus Ranstorp, 2013). He gives lectures on a regular basis in Sweden, Europe, and the United States for academics as well as professionals. With DIS since 2016.

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