General guidelines: For this paper, you must use the Orend textbook and at least three other sources, and to cite/reference those sources appropriately (heavy deductions will be taken from papers that dont use appropriate class sources). Please make sure to research your topic before diving into it. Also, include a Works Cited page. The paper should be about 4-5 pages long. Reading over your paper before handing it in is always good form. 

Here are a few websites that can help with citations: 

Write a paper with four sections (i.e., use subheaders to divide the sections) on one of the following topics.

For each topic, you are an advisor to the President of the United States and you are providing him/her with an analysis/paper/memo explaining what is going on and proposing a course of action. The four sections should cover:

  1. A summary of the situation.
  2. How does Realism explain the situation and what does Realism predict will happen? What would a Realist propose America should do? (Here you might want to briefly describe Realism).
  3. How does Idealism shed light on the situation and what does Idealism predict will happen? What would an Idealist propose for the United States to do? (Here you might want to briefly describe Idealism).
  4. Your personal conclusion about what the President/the United States should do (based on your educated opinion drawn from the above sections).

Here are the topics you can choose (CHOOSE ONE and write four sections on it):

  1. Nuclear proliferation, i.e. more and more countries getting nuclear weapons (you can focus on Iran or North Korea or Russias nukes if you please)
  2. The Islamic State/ISIS
  3. A political crisis in any specific country of your choice (e.g., gang violence in El Salvador, terrorism in France, Rohingya refugee crisis, etc.). If you choose this one specify the crisis.
  4. Climate change/global warming/environmental issues
  5. Illegal migration into the United States
  6. The war in Syria
  7. Russias foreign policy (this could involve Ukraine, US, Syria, etc.)
  8. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict
  9. The political situation in Tibet

Note that with all of these, America has an existing strategy/policy/course of action. You may want to summarize that policy in the first section of your paper. Regardless of the policy, write what a Realist and Idealist would do in sections two and three, and then propose your own solution in section four (which can be the existing policy, the Realist policy, the Idealist policy, or something else).

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