Paper Prompts
Paper #1: (Due 21-June)
Analyze the tenets and goals of liberalism as a present and future force in world politics. Summarize realist beliefs and assess their implications for understanding the world political system. Which theory do you feel best represents the global system and why?
Paper #2: (Due 05-July)
The French and American Revolutions are credited with linking the “will of the people” with a national government. This linkage vastly increased the power of government, as it now presumed to speak for the “masses.” Describe contemporary situations where governments wield extensive powers and justify their actions in the name of nationalism.
Paper #3 (Due 19 July) A variety of changes characterize diplomacy in the twenty-first century. Attack or defend the following statement referring to these changes: “Many of the trends in twenty-first-century diplomacy are a double-edged sword. Although they are consistent with a broader trend toward democracy, that democratization has placed contemporary diplomacy at the whimsy of ill-informed popular opinion that can be stirred by demagogues to block progress that would be of benefit to all parties involved.”
Paper #4 (Due 31 July)
In an effort to understand the developmental issues confronting the United States and the world, the Senate has invited you to testify at hearings into these matters. You have been asked to summarize and evaluate the pessimists’ and the optimists’ perspectives. Which arguments are the strongest for each perspective? What evidence supports the pessimists’ and optimists’ positions? Which position seems more persuasive, and why? How might you temper that position by considering the other