Write an essay of around 20 pages (double-spaced, 12 pt. font) discussing ONE of the below topics. As you’ll see, their variety represents the multi-disciplinary nature of our field. I expect you to draw primarily on our class readings and discussions for this assignment, but you may also draw on relevant professional or personal experience, as well as insights from other classes.
1. You have been asked to advise the U.S. government as to the most wise and effective response to the “Arab Spring”. What do you advise?
2. What do you think will be the most salient drivers of conflict in the 21st century? Why so? What should governments, civil society and international organizations do?
3. Are all conflicts resolvable? Why or why not? Your answer should include some reflections on why this is a key question for scholars and practitioners of our field.
4. Discuss in depth one of the assigned readings which has particularly captured you. Why is this the case? What was so useful, insightful, frustrating, etc., about this work?
5. Consider some of the theories we have discussed and been reading about thus far (e.g., structural violence, basic human needs). Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this theory in terms of its ability to actually facilitate resolving a conflict.
6. What does it mean when a conflict is indeed resolved?
7. Is there a connection between inner peace and social peace? Explore and discuss.
8. Choose a conflict about which you have plenty of experience and/or expertise. In a well-written essay, analyze the drivers, dynamics and sources of the conflict. Then lay out, citing theories from our field, how you might go about resolving it.
9. Ethical considerations are paramount and complex in our field. Write an essay that analyzes a particular historical conflict intervention and its ethical considerations. Should the intervention have been undertaken, or implemented differently? What questions might you raise?
10. What do you believe to be driving all of the conflict and even violence associated with the 2016 U.S. election? How can this be addressed?
11. What sort of conflicts do you observe/predict in the context of the current global pandemic?
Choose between 1 or 10.