For the final paper, you will address the following questions: What grand strategy should the U.S. adopt in an increasingly turbulent world?
Is there a conflict between U.S. national interests and international concerns, or do the two approximately align?
Which of the two should the U.S. prioritize as it devises and conducts its foreign policy, and which strategic methods and tools best serve this objective? Should the U.S. be more or less active in international affairs?
The final paper should be no shorter than five double spaced pages and should not exceed ten pages in length.
Your initial paper draft (due July 1) should include your thesis, construct the beginnings of an argument supporting this thesis, and carefully incorporate relevant evidence to bolster your argument.
A good draft will also consider alternativearguments and address any evidence that seems to contradict the stated thesis. This initial draft should be between three and five pages -that is, roughly half the length of your eventual final document.
You should submit it as a word document or text file (not as a PDF) to the relevant Carmen assignment page. You will also engage in the peer review process to help fellow students improve their initial drafts, and you will utilize their peer reviews to improve your own.
All peer reviewed drafts will be anonymous:
I will circulate an anonymized version of your draft to two other students, who will then produce a review. The best of these reviews will restate the central thesis and main arguments of the paper, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and suggest potential revisions.
I will then grade these reviews on the quality of the feedback you provide to your peers. The final draft of your paper should be a thorough revision of your initial draft, taking into account my earlier feedback as well as the peer review comments you received.
It should also include a clearly stated introduction (What is your Thesis?), a carefully articulated argument integrating sources from class, a section discussing and rebutting potential counterarguments, a conclusion summarizing and crystallizing your central claims, and an appended bibliography.
Throughout the paper, you should cite all your sources; my preferred citation format is the Chicago Manual of Style, but any standard formatting style, e.g. MLA and APA, will be accepted. For this particular paper, simply ensure you consistently use your chosen citation style.