April 26, 2007
Political Science 894
Ohio
State University, Columbus, Ohio
Terrorism Policy:
Threat and Response
Autumn 2007
Tuesday,
3:30‑6:18
John Mueller
bbbb@osu.edu
614‑247‑6007
Office hours, spring
and summer 2007: by
appointment at bbbb@osu.edu
The
course will focus on two key policy questions: what is the threat
terrorism
presents within the United States
and what policies should the United States adopt to deal
with the problem?
Considered will be how the United States has evaluated the threat, how
it has
devised policies to deal with it, and whether there might exist
preferable
alternative response strategies to the ones chosen. There will be some
consideration of threat perception, the sources of terrorism, the
mentality of
the terrorist, fear of crime (for comparison), cost effectiveness
analysis,
risk analysis, and problems of risk communication.
The
course will be conducted as a seminar with much student participation.
There
will be some general readings as well as weekly reports on books,
articles, or
topics. There will be no exams, and the grade will be based on
participation in
the class discussion, on the weekly reports, and on a longer (15‑20
page) term
paper turned in at the end of the quarter.
Tentative
course outline:
Assessing the enemy abroad
Assessing the enemy within
The enemy within: historical comparisions
Risk and risk communication
Health consequences of fear
Policies for seeking to protect the country
Policing methods
Fear, threat, and the role of politicians, bureaucracy, media
Progress reports on student papers
Among the topics for
discussion and papers would be some of the following:
<>Airport security—costs, risk comparisons, costs of waiting
Economic impact of terrorism response
Is a repeat of 9/11 possible?
Health impact of terrorism response—the costs of anxiety
Value of security symbols (theater?)—visible, nonvisible
Hardening potential targets
Determining potential targets (malls? bridges?)
Costs and value of relocating personnel
Determining acceptable radiation levels for dirty bombs
(cleanup costs, property value)
Enlisting ordinary people as emergency responders or health
workers
Risk communication—can accepted fears be reduced?
Cost and other comparisons with anxieties about crime
Costs and value of exit visas
International economic effects—immigration, commerce,
tourism, travel
Value of security cameras, if any
Costs of increased border waits
Costs and value of requiring passports to go to Canada, Mexico
Costs and value of training security
guards
Insurance opportunities
Evaluation of the air marshal program
How has DHS determined risk?
Assessment of DHS expenditures
Democracy, security, and the pork barrel
Value and costs of police at subway entrances
<>9/11’s impact in reducing spending and increasing saving
Impact of terrorism on charitable giving
Opportunity costs—health
service, crime
Terrorism and other instances of probability neglect
Incentives to increase fears
Efforts Hollywood
and television to exploit fears of terrorism (24, WTC)
The media and terrorism
Terrorism reporting (compare to crime or health reporting?)
The incentives for politicians, bureaucrats to exaggerate
the threat
The cost and effectiveness of policing efforts
The fate of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation on getting
responders to be able to communicate with one another
<>The war in Afghanistan
and the war on drugs
Opportunity costs of the
war on terrorism (health, Katrina)
Security barriers in panic situations
Comparing terrorism to other risks (lightning, asteroid
impact, eating nuts, deer)
Reasons for the remarkable absence of terrorism in the US
since 9/11
Policing terrorism—costs and effectiveness
Fear of terrorism and political outbidding
Costs and effectiveness of data mining
Comparisons with policing domestic Communism
Potential value of repeated terror warnings on reducing fear
(cry wolf)
Assessment of official predictions about the imminence of
another attack
Impact of terrorism warnings on politics, on Bush’s approval
ratings
Getting computers to work at the FBI and NSA
Costs and value of heightened border security
Cost and effectiveness of the US-VISIT program
Tradeoff between policing terrorism and policing crime