HIS 470 - Global War on Terror: A History

The US war in Afghanistan is now in its 17th year, the longest foreign war in American history. The Global War on Terror, however, has yet to be historicized. For the first time, this exploratory seminar does just that. It examines the history of the global war on terror by considering 9/11 and the era it inaugurated, while also consciously understanding it in relation to the forces of modern imperalism in the twentieth century. The seminar is structured as a “people’s history” of the global war on terror. It takes seriously the impact of global warfare from the standpoint of its victims. Topics include but are not limited to: definitions of terror and terrorism; European and Anglo-American histories of orientalism and Islamophobia; torture and torture legislation; drones, proxy wars, and war crimes; legislation and state led-initiatives of disapperances and entrapment; old and new formations of the national security state; how new technologies of violence and surveillance have reshaped domestic American policies; cold war politics in relation to contemporary conflagrations in Afghanistan and Pakistan; military occupations in relation to Palestine and Kashmir; refugees and displacement; suicide bombing; contemporary travel bans; and gender and feminist politics in relation to the war on terror. This seminar will involve weekly readings and discussion, films, documentaries, and one final paper.

Satisfies a requirement in the History major and minor.