Politic Questions

Instructions: At the outset, please choose one question to answer and take a few sentences to craft a coherent, thoughtful response. Also, after you’re done writing your individual response, and if you have time or are so disposed, please feel free to interact kindly but constructively with your fellow classmates. Our goal here is to replicate (as much as possible) a dynamic classroom atmosphere.

Lecture 15

Question 1: Based on evidence supplied in the class lecture and reading, do you think covert operations are reliably and consistently superior, in terms of efficacy, than are (1) traditional wars or (2) other policy instruments like economic sanctions, diplomacy, etc?

Question 2: What are some of the difficulties in implementing covert operations in a democratic state, and given their top-down, secretive character, are they ever justified at all? If they are, do you think there are particular types of covert operations that should be legally off-limits in a democratic state?

Question 3: Why do you think the recent covert operation in Syria proved such a failure? Do you think this operation should have been undertaken in the first place? Why or Why not? What are the implications (if any) of recent events in Syria for covert operations in general?