Military Force
What is the significance of aircraft carriers?
Mobile base.
Military can go anywhere.
Symbol of power.
Define terrorism:
Violence that targets civilians.
Typically influenced by politics.
What is the purpose of having weapons of mass destruction?
Symbol of power.
Ability to deter an attack.
Define a chemical weapon:
A weapon that releases chemical that can disable or kill someone.
What does ICBM stand for?
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Define counterinsurgency:
"Win the hearts and minds" of the people in the region.
Popular in Iraq. People were less likely to hide the terrorists in their homes.
Primary focus of terrorism:
Psychological.
Media attention.
Kill innocent civilians at random to make a statement.
"It could have been me."
What are the four categories for WOMD?
Define a biological weapon:
Uses microorganisms and/or viruses to target a persons immune system.
What is the 1925 Geneva protocol?
Chemical weapons can still be produced and possessed just not used.
Why do countries devote so much money to building up their military?
To deter an attack through having the means to retaliate.
Humanitarian purposes.
Influence over other countries.
What is state-sponsored terrorism?
Use of terrorists be states (countries).
Under the control of the government.
Resourced and supplied by the state.
What two cities did the U.S. target with atomic bombs during WWII?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What is the history of chemical weapons?
WWI
Mustard gas
When was the ONE time biological weapons were ALMOST used?
Under the "means of leverage," what are considered violent?
What are the four motivation categories of terrorism?
Religion, class ideology, ethnic conflict, and nationalism.
Explain mutually assured destruction:
Second - strike capability.
Being able to retaliate and cause total devastation to them and yourself.
Why do leaders not use biological weapons?
unpredictable and uncontrollable
What two fissionable materials were used in the atomic bombs?
Uranium-235 and plutonium.
Personal diplomacy, economic sanctions, and foreign aid.
What about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 made them so psychologically impactful?
The use of planes. Most people have or will use a plane to travel.
Lots of media coverage.
Very random.
Define the difference between fission and fusion nuclear bombs.
Fusion: forcing atoms together. (more expensive and far more powerful)
What is proliferation?
Spreading of weapons of mass destruction to countries that do not have them.
What was Albert Einstein's nuclear mass equation?
E = mc2
Energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared.
Small mass = great energy.