American foreign policy issue that we didn’t discuss in class. For example, you might want to address US policy towards a particular state, such as Cuba or Kazakhstan, or whether the US should support the creation of an independent Kurdistan, or a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These are simply examples to give you a place to start: feel free to consult me on your potential topic.

Papers will be 7 pages, double-spaced. Your responses to the prompts should be supported by evidence and should not be opinions—that is, these are both research and analytical papers. Your sources should be academic, policy, and reliable current news sources, and be cited properly using a standard citation style of your choice. See the above recommended texts section of the syllabus for some suggested resources as a place to start, but you can also utilize assigned readings and other external sources.Your final paper will be an assessment of a current American foreign policy issue that we didn’t discuss in class. For example, you might want to address US policy towards a particular state, such as Cuba or Kazakhstan, or whether the US should support the creation of an independent Kurdistan, or a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These are simply examples to give you a place to start: feel free to consult me on your potential topic.The paper should have 3 key components: 1) a description of the policy currently in place (its historical roots, details associated with it, what interest groups or influences are responsible for its current status, the actors involved with it, its importance to other countries or international organizations), 2) an analysis of said policy (what goals does it seek to accomplish, does it accomplish those, its strengths and weaknesses and why—this needs to be well-supported by research), and 3) your own thoughts on potential future policy directions (does an alternative policy better accomplish these goals, should we be trying to accomplish these goals anyway, whether we should stay the course or change and why).In addition to the paper itself, and separate from its page guidelines, you will also submit an executive memo: a one-page letter to one of your Senators that describes why they should support the policy you are advocating for in your paper, based on the research you have conducted. The purpose of this is to distill the academic contributions of your paper into something that would be useful for a political official seeking to understand the dimensions of the policy (but who doesn’t have much time!). Be concise and offer clear evidence for your conclusions. You are of course welcome to send the letter to your elected officials, but that is not a requirement of the assignment.