Final Exam Questions -
PART I -
1. What are the origins of the Iraq War of 2003? That is, what factors caused the United States to invade Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein? This essay requires you to make your own argument about why the U.S. went to war, and to show why your argument is stronger than competing arguments. In your answer, you should spend about 15-20% of your essay outlining at least three competing causal explanations and tying them to the theories of war that we discussed in the first half of the course (e.g., American misperceptions and theories on psychological pathologies, fear of a rising state with weapons of mass destruction, etc.). Then spend the rest of the essay marshalling evidence for your position. As I have mentioned in class, since this has been a semester-long "mini-research assignment," you should be able to draw upon evidence from at least six sources (books/articles/chapters) other than Woodward to back up your argument.
PART II -
2. What are the essential arguments of deterrence theory? What are the main critiques of these arguments? Which do you find more convincing, deterrence theory or its critics, and why? Support your answer with analysis from at least two or three historical cases from the course material.
3. The United States throughout the Cold War spent a great deal of blood and treasure defending small third parties from "aggressors" and from threats of aggression. What was the logic that led American leaders to do this? Was this an intelligent and necessary policy? Does this logic still apply to U.S. relations with non- Western parts of the world? Support your answer with analysis with at least two historical cases.
PART III -
4. In your opinion, do collective security institutions and economic sanctions provide effective alternatives to the unilateral use of force? Why or why not? Specifically, under what conditions are collective security institutions and economic sanctions likely to be more effective in achieving a country's objectives? Provide historical examples to illustrate your argument.
S. Apply the theories and concepts you have learned in the course to an analysis of the following two issue- areas: (a) the European situation since the Cold War; and (b) the Far Eastern (i.e., Asian) situation since the Cold War. What is the likelihood of war over the next two decades in these two theaters, and what are likely to be the major causes of conflict? What, if anything, can the United States do to reduce the possibility of conflict?
Note - 2 Pages for the first question and one page each for Part II and III so 4 in total.