Web-Based Conflict Research Tutorials

The Scenario:

Waking up on September, 11, 2001, you turned on the television to discover that the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon were targets of a global terrorist network. You found yourself deeply affected by the conflict and wanted to find out how such a tragedy could have happened. In the weeks that followed, you tried to gather as much information as possible about the terrorist attacks, listening to radio talk shows and watching television specials and the latest breaking news on the cable news networks. Thoroughly confused by all of the conflicting perspectives on how to best respond to these attacks, and troubled by the negative portrayal of the Arab and Muslim community, you decide to get involved in The Terrorism Research Center, a global organization dedicated to finding and resolving the root problems leading to this deeply entrenched conflict. However, your involvement in this organization requires that you travel to some of the conflict "hot spots" to talk with local residents, government and religious officials, and other concerned parties about their reaction to the conflict.

But wait a minute! You know very little about terrorism, global politics, or the region in which you will be traveling. In addition, you do not have a working knowledge of Arabic or any of the other regional languages and dialects of the people with whom you will be interacting. Plus, you have never traveled outside of the United States. What should you do to prepare?

Because of the global nature of the conflict and because much of the information you are seeking may change with the changing circumstances of the "War on Terrorism," many traditional information sources may provide little or outdated information. Therefore, you must seek out the most current perspectives and up-to-date information about the conflict setting. It would be useful for you to seek out information about the people and organizations with which you will be working (their goals, values, and objectives), the terrorism conflict itself (its history, context, and current status), and the various regions and settings of the conflict (the regions' histories, demographics, economies, religions, and cultures). This research will also allow you to determine which of the multiple sides of the conflict most accurately reflects your values, whether you are prepared to confront the unique challenges of the conflict site, and whether your participation will help or hinder the conflict situation. Therefore, you must investigate a number of questions before packing your bags for these conflict hot spots (see Table 1).

Your First Assignment - Preliminary Web Research:

• Go to Google, Yahoo!, or a similar general search engine site.
• Begin searching the Internet to find Web pages and websites that will assist you in answering some or all of the questions listed in Table 1.
• Are these general search engines useful in finding the information you are looking for? What types of problems did you encounter in your search?

When finished, you are ready to move on the next page. If you want to return to the main Web assignment page, click here.