The Program on Terrorism and Security Studies (PTSS) addresses numerous aspects of a threat that confronts nations around the globe. The five-week course features presentations by prominent civilian, military and government officials and internationally renowned scholars. It is designed for government officials, military officers and police administrators currently working in mid- and upper level management positions of counterterrorism organizations throughout the world.
The Focus
The course focuses on methods to help a nation effectively combat terrorism but still adhere to the fundamental values of a democratic society. Participants develop common understanding of the definition of terrorism and establish contacts that will help them approach this problem in a collegial, international environment. The PTSS helps current and future national security officials appreciate the nature and magnitude of today’s threat. By developing common grounds of knowledge, understanding and contacts - an “intellectual interoperability” - the PTSS improves national security officials’ abilities to cooperate internationally to counter terrorism’s global implications that transcend both national and international borders. Finally, the course helps integrate the counterterrorism community and enables individual nations to cooperate successfully in the on-going fight against terrorism.
The Curriculum
The course is divided into an introductory segment and five modules: a historical overview of terrorism; the role of law; financing terrorism; security cooperation; and securing the homeland against terrorist threats. Throughout the course, recurring themes are emphasized. These include:
Leadership & Ethics: The corps of educated, disciplined leaders that emerges from the course can meet terrorism’s moral challenges and catalyze the suppression of terrorism.
Globalization: Globalization contributes to terrorism by accelerating and magnifying contacts between terrorists and illicit actors. But globalization can also contribute to the solution by encouraging cooperation among those working to combat terrorism. Globalization should be used to develop ties among diverse actors and networks that will counter terrorist organizations.
Countering Ideological Support for Terrorism: Ideologically motivated terrorism can only be defeated by concerted cooperation among the global community. Central to this cooperation must be a concept of encouraging principles and philosophies anchored in justice, moderation, and tolerance that may wean disaffected populations away from ideologies of hatred, destruction and death.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Terrorism’s most deadly threat is no longer a matter of if but when and where.
Competing Terms of Reference: Terrorism is no different from other matters related to international affairs and security: there is always more than one way to understand a given problem or challenge. In fact, the emotive nature of terrorism can easily cloud our understanding. Terrorism as well as responses to terrorism will be scrutinized through various terms of reference, including perspectives of domestic and international law, moral and ethical issues, roles of non-state actors, national interest, and the competing national interests of Realpolitik. Using these themes, participants will develop a framework of action to combat terrorism as they pursue their careers. Graduates will find they have learned not what to think, but how to think about the complexities of our rapidly shrinking globe and the questions they should ask as national security officials.
The PTSS will be conducted 2 times in 2008:
PTSS 08-2 is scheduled for 18 January - 22 February
PTSS 08-5 is scheduled for 23 May - 27 June
Applications
For information on how to apply for the PTSS and application deadlines, contact the Marshall Center at registrar@marshallcenter.org, your ministry, or the US orGerman Embassy in your capital.
