POL 406
RESEARCH PROJECT GUIDELINES
Objectives
The range of topics is immense! See the attached list of suggestions as a starter. If you are interested in something else, please confer with me before proceeding. To start with, I am asking you to select a global or regional governance issue as your topic. A short assignment will give you an opportunity to become familiar with international law relating to the topic, relevant IGOs and NGOs—the pieces of governance. I am open, however, to requests to focus on a particular area of international law or a particular IGO or NGO. If you go one of these routes, however, we shall have to adjust how you focus Part A of the project and the exercises. You must confer with me!
You may work individually or in a small group. If you choose the latter, you are expected to divide different aspects of the topic among the individual group members, but to put together a single, well-integrated paper for Part A. Part B must be done as an individual paper.
Resources:
An important part of the project is utilizing different types of resources, including international law and organization journals, legal documents, UN documents, unpublished papers (such as can be found on the CIAO database at Roesch), Internet sites etc. Look particularly for non-American authors also! Relevant journals include American Journal of International Law, Human Rights Quarterly, Michigan Journal of International Law, Vanderbilt Journal of International Law, Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, International Organization, Global Governance, Foreign Affairs, World Policy Journal, et al. You may use the law library and will most certainly want to use OHIOLINK and some of the excellent databases available such as Lexis/Nexis, CIAO, and PAIS. The Karns/Mingst text has extensive references in each chapter and suggested sources at the end of each chapter. Take advantage of these! Epps also has suggested readings with each chapter and references to legal cases.
In addition to websites listed in Karns/Mingst, some online resources include:
American Society of International Law www.asil.org/resource/home.htm
International Court of Justice www.icj-cij.org
Cornell University Law www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/International-resources/default.htm
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library www.umn.edu/humanrts/
Having chosen your general topic area and done the exercises to gain some background, you now need to determine whether you want to focus on legal aspects, IGO and/or NGO roles and activities. The paper should encompass the following:
a. Description of the governance issue/problem
b. Summary of the pieces of governance already in place
c. Analysis of key actors and the politics of the issue (key states, groups, leaders)
d. Exploration of one or more legal aspects OR the roles and activities of relevant IGOs (regional, functional, or global) OR the roles and activities of relevant NGOs
e. Assessment of the effectiveness of the governance efforts in dealing with issue
Length: 15 pages (minimum length for paper itself = 12; Maximum length, including comprehensive bibliography, not just a list of works cited = 18)
Topic due: February 17
Preliminary Bibliography due: March 10 (1.0 % of the final grade for the project)
Short Assignment due: March 22 (5 pts – but not part of the project grade)
Outline & Bibliography due: April 1 by 4pm (No fooling!) (2.5% of the final project grade)
Presentation: April 13 at the Stander Symposium – everyone is expected to do a short presentation with powerpoint (2.5 % of grade)
Papers Due: April 20 at 4:00 PM. Late papers will not be accepted except with prior arrangement
Part B. Policy Memorandum (4% of final grade)
This is linked to Part A, but should focus on one key actor—a state, coalition of states, NGO or coalition of NGOs--that you identify from your research as key to the governance issue in some way. You assume the role of the relevant government minister or senior officer for the NGO for that issue and write a memorandum to the country’s prime minister or president or the executive director/president of the NGO. The memorandum should (a) briefly summarize the problem/issue and why it is of concern/interest to your government/organization; (b) set forth a set of policy alternatives for your country/organization on that issue and assess the pros and cons of each; and (c) recommend one specific course of action to the prime minister/president or executive director/president.
Length: Up to 3 pages (no more)
Paper Due: Thursday April 28 in class
SUGGESTIVE LIST OF TOPICS FOR POL 406 RESEARCH PROJECTS
Humanitarian Intervention (ex: Somalia, Kosovo, Rwanda, East Timor, Darfur, Myanmar, Haiti)
Challenges of Peacebuilding—can outsiders really build the conditions for long-term stable
peace? (ex: Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq etc.)
Peacekeeping—past or present, by the UN, EU, or AU (ex: DR Congo, Sierra Leone, Côte
d’Ivoire, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Somalia, Darfur etc. )
Failed or failing states – what can be done and by whom? (Haiti, Somalia etc.)
Controlling weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological or nuclear)
Nuclear Proliferation and the challenge of Iran and/or North Korea
Arms control – the success of efforts to ban landmines or cluster munitions
Combating terrorism or piracy
Maintaining Security and preventing conflict in the South China Sea
AIDS as a threat to global security (or to regional security in Africa)
World Commission on Dams as an example of a multistakeholder effort
Debt Relief for the poorest countries
Microcredit as a development strategy –and its recent problems
The UN’s Millennium Development Goals -- focus on one or more of the goals and what’s been accomplished thus far
Challenges of Enlarging the EU
The challenges of a single EU currency – the EURO zone and Greece, Ireland, Portugal et al.
Non-European regional efforts at promoting free trade and other goals (Mercosur,Andean Community, AFTA, SADC etc.)
The OAS and efforts to promote and protect democracy in Latin America
UNASUR – will it succeed?
Human Rights
Promoting the rights of indigenous peoples
Slavery and Human Trafficking
Child Soldiers
Torture
Refugees and/or IDPs
Violence against women
UN peacekeepers and the problem of sexual violence, especially in DRC
Balancing Liberalization of trade and protecting workers rights
Prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity (Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Darfur)
International Criminal Court – the court itself or one of the cases being prepared
One of the regional human rights systems – Africa, Europe, the Americas
Humanitarian law – the Geneva conventions or the special role of the ICRC
Managing global population growth
Deforestation
Loss of biodiversity
Ensuring adequate clean water
Depletion of fisheries (or whales, elephants, tigers etc.)
Ozone depletion
Hazardous waste
Climate Change – some aspect
Topics that don’t fit one of the above issue areas (and, in some case, fall outside the general guidelines):
Governance challenges in the Arctic as a result of climate change
The Antarctic regime
Global Food supply and rising prices
Outer space law
Compliance with international law and norms; enforcement of international sanctions, norms, rules etc.
Governing the Internet
China’s rise and its effects on IGOs and governance in Asia or more broadly
South Sudan—about to become the world’s newest state this summer – what IL/IO issues must be resolved, what international rules apply,
what IGOs will it want to become a member of, what are the conditions for membership, what IGOs, NGOs, or states will provide what kinds of aid etc. etc.
Kosovo – can it become a UN member, what problems does it face, what’s the current role of the UN and EU and NATO