Political Science

Elective, political behavior

Political Science

Block 1: Security Studies in Context: Origins and Paradigms

• Traditional and Critical Approaches to Security Studies
• Situating Domestic Terrorism: Armed Internationalism in Europe
• Islamic Political Movements in the 20th Century: Anti-imperialism and the Failure of the Postcolonial National Model
• Situating International Terrorism: Causes, Transformation, and the International War on Terror
• Terrorism in Data: Global Terrorism Index and Other Relevant Data
• Violent Radicalization
• The Failure of the West in Global Wars on Terror: Spain’s Security Strategies and the Securitization of Migration

Block 2: Communism, Anti-apartheid Struggle, and Anti-imperialism

• Communist Internationalism During the Cold War: From Sierra Maestra to Luanda
• Peasantry and Revolution: Popular War Strategies in Asia during the Cold War
• Decolonization and War: African Independence and Armed Conflict
• Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism: Between Legality and Parastate Violence
• What is a War Today? Insurgencies, Paramilitaries, and Political Violence since the 20th Century
• State Repression in Numbers
• The International Community’s Response to State Crimes: Justice, Power, and Global Paralysis

Block 3: Transnational Criminal Organizations

• Beyond Political Violence: Transnational Narcotrafficking Networks as Global Political Actors
• Organized Crime as Terrorism: The Bukeleization of Politics in El Salvador and its Global Impact

Block 4: Beyond Processes of Justice, Reparations, and Truth. How to Heal Political Violence?

Healing the Political: Communities and Communal Government Systems in Transitional Justice Processes

Case studies

CB2, CB3, CB4 CG1, CG2, CG4

 CE2, CE15, CE20

Ahmad, A. (2017). Jihad & Co.: black markets and Islamist power. Oxford University Press.

Akilu, F. (2021). Peaceful Societies and Leaving No One Behind. In Fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 407-416). Routledge.

Alonso, R. et al. (2008). Radicalization Processes Leading to Acts of Terrorism, European Commission

Apter, D. (1997). The legitimization of violence. NYU Press.

Asri, F. E., & Mesa, B. (2021). Extrémisme (s) violent (s) en perspective: jeunes et femmes dans le contexte marocain. Extrémisme (s) violent (s) en perspective: jeunes et femmes dans le contexte marocain, 139-158.

Body-Gendrot, S., & Spierenburg, P. (Eds.). (2008). Violence in Europe. Springer-Verlag New York.

Booth, K. (Ed.). (2005). Critical security studies and world politics (pp. 259-278). London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Brown, M. E., Cote Jr, O. R., Lynn-Jones, S. M., & Miller, S. E. (Eds.). (2010). Contending with Terrorism: Roots, strategies, and responses. MIT Press.

Buzan, B., Wæver, O., & De Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Cabnal, L. (2017). TZK'AT, Red de sanadoras ancestrales del feminismo comunitario desde Iximulew-Guatemala. Ecología política, 98-102.

Cabnal, L. (2010). Acercamiento a la construcción de la propuesta de pensamiento epistémico de las mujeres indígenas feministas comunitarias de Abya Yala. Momento de paro Tiempo de Rebelión, 116(3), 14-17.

Calle, L., & Sánchez-Cuenca, I. (2011). What we talk about when we talk about terrorism. Politics & Society, 39(3), 451-472.

Cockburn, P. (2016). Chaos & Caliphate: Jihadis and the West in the Struggle for the Middle East, ‎ Or Books Llc

Grajales, J. (2013). State Involvement, Land Grabbing and Counter-Insurgency in Colombia (Development and Change), 44(2) pp 211-232

Hoffman, B. (2018). Inside terrorism. In Inside Terrorism. Columbia University Press.

Hoffman, B., & Reinares, F. (Eds.). (2014). The evolution of the global terrorist threat: From 9/11 to Osama bin Laden's death. Columbia University Press.

Johnston, J. (2000). Pedagogical guerrillas, armed democrats, and revolutionary counterpublics: Examining paradox in the Zapatista unprising in Chiapas Mexico. Theory and Society, 29(4), 463-505

Koppel, T. (2015). Lights out: a cyberattack, a nation unprepared, surviving the aftermath. Broadway Books.

Lessing, B. (2021). Conceptualizing criminal governance. Perspectives on Politics, 19(3), 854-873

López, T. M. (2018). Terrorismo y comportamiento político: España y el caso de ETA, Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Mbembe, A. (2008). Necropolitics. Palgrave Macmillan UK.

McMahon, Robert J. (2003). The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press

Mesa, B. (2017). Le rôle transformateur des groupes armés du nord du Mali: de l'insurrection djihadiste et sécessionniste au crime organisé (1996-2017) (Doctoral dissertation, Université Grenoble Alpes (ComUE)).

Mesa, B. (2025). The failure of the West in Africa: The new threat we don't want to see. Cordoba: Almuzara.

Mueller, J. (2008). The Atomic Terrorist: Assessing the Likelihood. prepared for presentation at the Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago, 15.

National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (2020). Global Terrorism Index 2020, Institute for Economics and Peace

Neumann, P. R. (2016). Radicalized: new jihadists and the threat to the West. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Richards, A. (2014). Conceptualizing terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37(3), 213-236.

Orentlicher, D. (2018). Some kind of justice: The ICTY's impact in Bosnia and Serbia. Oxford University Press.

Sánchez-Cuenca, I., & De la Calle, L. (2009). Domestic terrorism: The hidden side of political violence. Annual Review of Political Science, 12, 31-49.

Shapiro, J. N. (2013). The terrorist's dilemma. In The Terrorist's Dilemma. Princeton University Press.

Tilly, C. (2003) The Politics of Collective Violence. New York: Cambridge University Press

Trejo, G., & Ley, S. (2018). Why did drug cartels go to war in Mexico? Subnational party alternation, the breakdown of criminal protection, and the onset of large-scale violence. Comparative Political Studies, 51(7), 900-937.

Tzul Tzul, G. (2018). Sistemas de gobierno comunal indígena: Mujeres y tramas de parentesco en Chuimeq'ena'. México: Instituto Amaq.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2012). The Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes, United Nations

US Government (2012). Guide to the Analysis of Insurgency, US Government

White, J. R., & Clear, T. (2002). Terrorism: an introduction. Stanford, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

Waltz, K. N. (2010). Theory of international politics. Waveland Press.

• Group Assignments 40%
• Final Essay 60%

Recomendaciones para la recuperación

Evaluation tools will be the same.