Project 1 addresses course outcomes 1, 2, 5 and 6. The reading and viewing list for this course’s first four modules includes scholars writing specifically about the post-Cold War period. At the start of the 1990s there was a seminal conflict event that coincided with the end of the Cold War – the First Gulf War. Across the rest of the 1990s, and in particular in the 1999 Kosovo War, another conflict occurred, which was also seminal in revealing how the international system was structured and operating. In this essay, you will compare and contrast aspects of these events and international relations theory. Be sure to draw on that full range of readings to address the questions below.
Before beginning this activity, be sure to read the Module Notes and the required readings and viewings for the first four modules. Your assignment is to compare and contrast the First Gulf War and the Balkans Wars, drawing on what you have learned in the course thus far. Pay special attention to the extra set of questions and essay length required of Students will write a 6 page essay.
Required Essay Questions for Students
- In your reading, how did the conflicts differ in their nature? For example, was one a simple case of one state’s aggression against another (e.g., Iraq v. Kuwait in the First Gulf War), while the other conflict was born from the breakup of a multiethnic state after the Soviet collapse? For example, did the legacy of the past, or history, matter more in one conflict than the other?
- Compare and contrast the “leadership” role played by the United States in these two conflicts. Did the United States take the lead and shape the international community’s response similarly, and did others follow the United States unreservedly?
- What differences in cooperation do you find in the two wars? For example, did coalitions against “aggression” form more easily in one than the other, and if so, why might that have been the case?
To successfully complete Project 1, you will need to organize your responses to these specific questions and then craft formatted essays. Your essays will be evaluated in terms of how thoroughly you: answer the questions; use resources to document your main points; and properly cite referenced work. Your essays should address all of the questions assigned.
Student essays should consist of at least 1,500 words of text (at least 6 pages of double-spaced and 12 point font of text).
- A title page;
- Well-developed introductory paragraph explaining the purpose of the essay and briefly referencing some of the main points/contentions offered in the essay;
- The body of the essay should consist of your effort to best answer the primary questions from the assignment prompt and should consist of the required length of words of text (at least 6 pages of double-spaced and 12 point font of text for students, \ Though the method by which the paper is written is largely up to you, it is essential that the responses to the questions in the prompt be based upon scholarly readings and should remain at all times defensible (in an academic sense). You have a great deal of information to draw from in creating your essay, including the assigned readings and hyperlinked sources in the module notes. As is the case with every assignment in Course, presenting any unsubstantiated, illogical, or indefensible position will have an adverse effect on the final grade. Please direct any questions regarding these expectations to the instructor;
- A concise concluding paragraph that briefly restates both the purpose of the essay as well as some of the primary argument offered by you, the essay’s author. Be sure the concluding paragraph does not introduce new information;
- A list of all sources consulted in the preparation of the essay. The essay should be formatted according to APA Style. This includes the format of the list of references.
