Choose any ONE of the following topics for your research paper. It is not necessary to email me which topic you chose, but you must write about one of these topics from the list below:
1. What caused European colonialism, who were the major colonial empires, and what was the impact of colonization on India, South Africa, and Indonesia?
2. What is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict about? What are the motivations and strategies of the actors involved, and how has that conflict affected (or might affect) international relations broadly?
3. How and why did Russia annex Crimea from Ukraine? How has the conflict between Russia and Ukraine affected the region and international relations broadly? Be sure to include the effect it has had on U.S.-Russian relations.
4. How have human rights affected international politics? What state and non-state actors have had the most direct impact on expanding international human rights? What role have human rights considerations played in the formulation of American foreign policy?
5. Why has North Korea pursued nuclear weapons and how has that affected its relationship with South Korea, China, and the United States? Provide an overall analysis of U.S. foreign policy toward North Korea.
6. Choose a country in South America and describe the relationship between that country and the United States. How has that relationship evolved and what is the current status of that relationship? What role does that South American country play in regional politics and more broadly in international politics?
7. What role does the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the primary judicial branch of the United Nations, play in international politics? What supranational powers, if any, does the ICJ possess? How have recent political trends affected the ICJ and other international organizations?
8. Choose a country in Africa and describe the relationship between that country and the United States. How has that relationship evolved and what is the current status of that relationship? What role does that African country play in regional politics and more broadly in international politics?
9. Describe the historical relationship between the United States and France. How has that relationship evolved over the years? What is the current status of the relationship between the U.S. and France? What role does France play in regional politics and more broadly in international politics?
10. Describe the historical relationship between the United States and China. How has that relationship evolved over the years? What is the current status of the relationship between the U.S. and China? What role does China play in regional politics and more broadly in international politics?
Students will write one research paper. The paper must be typed and double-spaced, with Times New Roman 12 font (four to six pages/1,000 to 1,500 words) in MS Word and/or PDF. Papers must be in Chicago style format (author-date) and contain at least five peer-reviewed academic sources.
