POLSC
252 International Relations
Dr. Joanna Briganti
Student Instructions
Description
of Assignment:
Early in the semester, you will be assigned to groups. Each group will be assigned a cultural/group or nation located in the Middle East. Nations or groups that may be assigned include: Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and/or Palestine.
You will work with your group to research and present your findings about your assigned country to the class. Your group’s goal is to convince the other groups that your country/group has certain rights related to the region known as the Middle East. You will need to explain what your group is striving for in the region and why.
After each group has presented their needs and demands, I will facilitate an agreement process, hopefully leading to a treaty. The treaty will include decisions about the following:
1. Which areas of land are sovereign nation states and who shall control these lands.
2. What type of government(s) will be internationally recognized for each controlling group (republic, parliament, other)?
3. Who has sovereign rights over Jerusalem?
4. Who has sovereign rights over the area known as Palestine?
5. What are the rules for respecting religious rites, holy lands and religious laws and who will enforce them.
6. Other unresolved issues.
Assignment
Objectives:
In order to fully argue your position you will need to understand some history of this region. You will also need to explore the different foreign policy systems and types of government that exist in the Middle East as well as in other parts of the world. By the end of this project, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the following:
· A summary history of the ongoing conflict in the region referred to as the Middle East.
· The identity and description of each nation involved in recent and current unrest in the region. You will also be able to give a thumbnail description of each nation's culture, people, and beliefs that have affected conflict in the Middle East.
· The type of government currently in place in the region. You should be able to describe different types of “executive” branch rulers and different legislative systems and be able to compare them to other systems studied in this course.
· The key issues in the Middle East pertinent to the regional conflict as proposed by scholars, interest groups and members of the media.
· The key contentions for current and recent episodes of violence in the region as proposed by interest groups and members of the media; some affects the problems and violence have had on the people in the region.
· Some affects that war and unrest in the region have had on world trade, world peace, and the world economy.
· The role of the United States in attempts to bring peace to the Middle East.
· Ideas for bringing peace to the region and for a resolution regarding regional rights to the city of Jerusalem.
· Opinions of your own regarding who is responsible for various conflicts and problems in the area and what can be done to bring peace to the region.
To accomplish this you and your fellow group members should research your country/group to ascertain:
1.
Overview of the nation/group's history.
2.
The nation/group's cultural and religious beliefs.
3.
The nation/group's role in the Middle East.
Are they a strong or weak presence?
Who do they interact with most? Other
issues concerning your country?
4.
The nation/group's relationship with the United States.
5.
The nation/group’s role in the world economy and international trade.
6.
What is the nation/group's claim to be in the Middle East? (What do they want?)
7.
What do the people of this nation believe they need in order to be at
peace with their neighbors?
8.
How do they think Palestine and/or Jerusalem should be divided, ruled,
resided in, etc.?
You
will present these findings in an 8-10 page research paper that is composed by
the entire group. The format of the
paper is listed below. Each
person must do some research and at least one other task such as composition,
typing, or presenting.
You should divide the work as evenly as possible.
Format
Requirements:
The minimum requirements for the paper include the above as well as:
* A cover page with all your group members’ names and the course title
*
Please staple - no
plastic report covers
* Set margins at one-inch on all borders
* Eight to ten typed pages, double-spaced; 10 or 12 point Times New Roman font.
* At least six resources or more cited. Please qualify your sources. Avoid using only biased web pages; use some nationally recognized information sources, please.
* Remember, use parenthetical referencing only, MLA or similar.
Time Report and Peer Review:
Upon completion of this exercise, students will be required to answer in writing, the following questions:
1. How many times did your group meet and for how long each time?
2.
Did everyone in the group do some share of research and at least one
other task? If not who deserves less credit?
More credit?
Group
Work Issues:
Sometimes
in groups personality differences and differences in ambition lead to conflict.
Since these types of situations occasionally occur on the job, you should
learn how to deal with them effectively.
If you find your group is having un-resolvable problems, you must see me immediately
about the problem. Do not wait
until the project is due. If
together we are unable to solve the problem, the group will be divided and each
member will turn in an individual paper. No
time extensions will be allowed for completion of these individual papers.
The
group research project is graded as follows.
Each group member will receive the same base grade.
However, each student’s grade may be adjusted according to peer review
comments.
Grading
Criteria for Final Paper:
Points
Research Project Paper Requirement
25
Thoroughness of research
10
Meets all minimum format requirements (listed below)
15
Fully developed report and argument (little or no redundancy)
10
Proper Citation in the body of the paper (parenthetical reference style)
10
Proper bibliography (MLA or similar style)
10
Oral presentation/participation
=Base
grade - the same for all who contribute to the paper.
+
20
Group collaboration (evident by time report and peer review)
This portion of the grade
can vary depending on peer review.
100
Possible points
Some
Potential Resources:
Maps - The following website has maps
showing various areas, borders, and settlements in the Middle East at different
times in recent history: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/Map_collection.html
News -
Many
U.S. Newspapers have online access. There
are also online news sites such as CNN.com and MSNBC.com.
Try foreign newspapers, many in English, to gain different perspectives.
Some are available through this website: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/Map_collection.html
Interest
Groups - Try
using google.com or northernlight.com to search for interest groups sites that
provide often biased information. Do
not rely too heavily on biased information, however.
Books
-
· Bill, James A. and Robert Springborg. Politics in the Middle East. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.
· Dickey, Christopher. War on Two Fronts. http://www.msnbc.com/news/498010.asp?cp1=1.
· Dorraj, Manochehr, Ed. Middle East at the Crossroads. University Press of America. Lanham, Maryland, 1999.
· Ehteshami, Anoushiravan. Chapter 9: Political economy of European Union-Middle East relations. Middle East at the Crossroads. Ed. Manochehr Dorraj. University Press of America. Lanham, Maryland, 1999.
· Goldstein, Joshua, A. International Relations. 4th Edition. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 2001.
· Ito, Tim. Overview - Middle East: Conflict Between Arabs and Israelis. Washington Post - Newsweek Interactive. May 1999. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/me_peace/overview.htm
· Nye, Joseph S. Jr. Understanding International Conflicts. 3rd Edition. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.
·
Omestad, Thomas, Larry Derfner, and KhaledAbu Toameh.
The Spiral of War. U.S.
News and World Report. Vol.
129. No. 16. October 23, 2000.
Pages 25-31.
· Ziegler, David W. War, Peace, and International Politics. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.