In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, on the United States, there is great discussion about the ‘new’ methods of terrorism and how to effectively apply counter terrorism concepts to tackle this international security challenge. Political and military leaders are still grappling with strategies to combat the new terrorists as witnessed by events in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005 and daily in Iraq and Afghanistan. To effectively combat this new scourge we must explore the origins of and motivations for terrorism, terrorist strategy and tactics. This presents real challenges to any government and national security community due to the many different domestic and international terrorist groups, each with their own leadership, motivations, political objectives and their own repertoire of tactics. The fact that these groups continue to evolve and mature in their capability means even greater challenges lay ahead for the U.S. military and government agencies involved in combating terrorism and in ensuring homeland security. The fully developed degree program at APUS prepares students for the complexities of this field, along with preparation in a number of areas across the counter terrorism and homeland security spectrum. In its degree programs, APUS takes an integrated approach that reflects this discipline in its current emergency state.
Program Objectives
In addition to the institutional and general education level learning objectives, the Associate of Arts in Counter-Terrorism Studies also seeks the following specific learning outcomes of its graduates. With reference to each of the respective areas of counter terrorism, graduates in this degree program will be able to:
- Explore the theory and history of terrorism and political violence.
- Identify different domestic and international terrorist groups, their leadership, and their tactics.
- Recognize the motivations of terrorist leaders and their followers.
- Determine the evolving nature of domestic and international terrorism.
- Define government agencies involved in combating terrorism and in ensuring homeland security.
- Describe countermeasures available to US agencies fighting terrorism.
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