Assignment task:
Research Paper Assignment
In the latter portion of the course we are going to consider a number of contemporary issues in international relations. Some of them are extremely broad (international political economics, war), others are just somewhat extremely broad (nuclear proliferation, terrorism). Either way, we are only going to scratch the surface of these issues. I would like to give you an opportunity to dig a little deeper into some issue in contemporary international relations. In this assignment I ask you to pick a topic of interest - it could be something like a specific event (a war between two countries, a nonmilitary conflict like Iran's potential nuclear weapons, etc.) or something broader but thematic (climate change or cyber warfare). The key is going to be picking a topic that is narrow enough to deal with in a minimum 2000-3000 word paper (that's roughly 8 to 12 pages). The topic must be contemporary. That means it must involve events that have happened after 1989. I'd strongly prefer you not pick COVID as a topic, both because I've read several hundred papers on it and because people end up writing about things that have nothing to do with international relations. Once you have your topic, you should use the paper to answer the following questions about it:
1) Give a BRIEF summary of your topic. What are the major relevant details about the subject? This should be No More Than 750 Words. That's why you need to narrow your topic before you sit down to write your paper. Need Assignment Help?
2) Are there any relevant international agreements about your topic? Has the United Nations or other IGO's dealt with your topic? What NGO's are active in this area and what are their goals?
3) Who are the (most) relevant countries? What are their interests or goals as regards your topic? Go beyond just restating what you said in Question 1.
4) Analyze your topic from a realist. a liberal, and a constructivist perspective. How would each approach explain the way countries and individuals have behaved in your topic? For this question specifically you will not need and should not use any outside research - the textbook and course videos are sufficient. I would like to see you apply what you've learned about the theories to your topic. You should still make sure to cite specific pages in the book/course videos but you should not cite outside sources just for this one specific part of the paper.
5) What is the future of your topic?
Possible Topics:
You can choose from the list below or choose your own. A list of possible topics might include: relations between South Korea and North Korea, relations between the US and Cuba, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Iran (or North Korea) and nuclear proliferation, Brexit, NAFTA/USMCA, Security Council reform, anything to do with the 2008 economic crisis (i.e. not domestic) such as the European debt crisis, cybersecurity, global poverty, development in the global South, AIDS or any other epidemic (but focus on the international relations of it and not the science), the looming demographic crisis in economically developed countries, immigration INTERNATIONALLY (i.e. not specifically about the US), water access, climate change, etc. As a reminder, it must be a contemporary topic, meaning it involves things that have happened since 1989 or later.
You can structure your paper any way you see fit, so long as you address the above questions. I would suggest breaking your paper down into an introduction in which you lay out what will be in the rest of the paper, five separate sections (each dealing with a question) and a conclusion, to match the attached rubric. Make sure to read the rubric at the end of the paper assignment for guidance on what each section should contain.
Please note that you should not just write a five paragraph essay with each of the above questions being a paragraph. Generally each question should take you several/numerous paragraphs to answer.
Formatting:
The total length of the paper is 2000 to 2500 words. That is roughly 8 to 10 double spaced pages with normal font and margins. Please put the word count on the front page of your paper. The word count does not include the works cited page. Pretty much every word processing program has a way of automatically counting words for you. If you are unsure how to do this, let me know and I will show you. Will I count all of your words to verify your total? Probably not. Unless you hand in something that is clearly not the length listed on the front page. I know most people start out by aiming for the minimum number of words, but given the scope of this paper topic you will likely have no difficulty meeting the word count. While you will lose points for being under 2000 words, if a paper has less than 1500 words it will automatically fail the assignment.
Number of Sources
I am asked pretty much every semester some version of the question "how many sources does my paper need to have?" This is a weird question to me, since the honest answer is "however many you need to write a good paper", but I get why students ask it.
A little guidance is always a good thing. Let me say this, then. It would be very hard to do well on this paper with less than five academic sources (i.e. not Wikipedia, Investopedia, and other encyclopedic sources). You probably will want more than that, but at a minimum I'd be aiming for that. Once you hit five sources that doesn't mean you are done doing research - if three of your sources are all about one part of the paper then you're going to need more in total to write a compelling paper. The sources can be things like academic journals or books, but they can also be government websites, U.N. and other major international organization websites, reputable think tank/NGO websites (though here you have to be a more critical of the sourcing) and reputable news sources like CNN, the BBC, etc.
Research Topics:
Topic 1: Implications of the United Nations in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Background
The present time is characterized by the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, which is one of the most significant and the most worrying problems. In a few aspects, the conflict between these two states has proved to have had a negative impact on other countries. The topic is relevant to the course as the war between Russia and Ukraine is not merely the war of two states but the task that all other states in the world are to solve. For instance, this conflict has resulted in an increase in fuel price charges. Also, there is the issue of shortages of products in different parts of the world owing to disruption of the supply chain and inflation in almost all countries in the world.
For this topic, different sources, including journal articles and organizational websites, would be used.
Some of the sources used for this topic are as follows:
1. Mhlanga, D., & Ndhlovu, E. (2023). The implications of the Russia-Ukraine war on sustainable development goals in Africa. Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 16(4), 435-454.
2. Bin-Nashwan, S. A., Hassan, M. K., &Muneeza, A. (2022). Russia-Ukraine conflict: 2030 Agenda for SDGs hangs in the balance. International Journal of Ethics and Systems, 40(1), 3-16.
Topic 2: The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the role of international organizations
Background:
The war in Gaza has made great strides in the generation of gigantic humanitarian problems. For instance, the education system has been interrupted. However, for the people of Gaza these basic human rights are violated in terms of denial of food, inadequate health care and lesser employment opportunities. Besides, it relates to the international relations presupposing that the matter is relevant for other countries too. For instance, this conflict has attracted the interest of global organizations like the UN and UNICEF, as well as various NGOs.
Some sources used for this topic include the following:
1. Farhat, T., Ibrahim, S., Abdul-Sater, Z., & Abu-Sittah, G. (2023). Responding to the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Damned if You do... Damned if You don't!. Annals of Global Health, 89(1).
2. El-Mougher, M. M. (2022). Level of coordination between the humanitarian and governmental organizations in Gaza Strip and its impact on the humanitarian interventions to the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) following May escalation 2021. International Journal of Disaster Risk Management, 4(2), 15-45.