Policy Paper
Students will analyze and prescribe amendments to the current U.S. foreign policy in a topic area of their choice. Proposals are due March 19th. Please include issue area of foreign policy that you will analyze and a brief evaluation of the problems with the current policy. Please include a preliminary bibliography. This is a graded assignment (worth 5% of your grade). In the policy paper, students will fully analyze the interested stakeholders, the stated U.S. policy goals, the decision-making process and the organizational inputs to the implementation of the policy in their area of choice. They will then make a clear and detailed proposal for modification of the policy and the reasoning on which it is based. Significant outside research on the reasoning and the policy players involved is required. Use headings to direct the reader. Normal MLA or Chicago style citations are required. The paper should be at least 5000 words, excluding the 1-page, single-spaced executive summary and citations.
Feedback From professor After submitting proposal.
Looking at US/China relations is a good topic to analyze. It may be too much to include both trade and intellectual property/export restrictions and military competition in the South and East China seas. I would recommend choosing one to focus on. This will enable you to really analyze the issues in detail with the current policies as well as allow more room to present a detailed policy proposal and implementation plan for the more narrow topic. You will also need to consider the politics of the process for implementing the proposal and analyze the domestic stakeholders in and outside the US executive branch and Congress (which vary between the two topics). If you focus on the trade issue, the US Trade Representatives’ Office and the export controls through Treasury would also be key stakeholders. If you focus on the south and east China seas, the Defense Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff would also be key players. Good start to the research, but remember that as stated in class, you are expected to have over 10 sources for the preliminary bibliography. Make sure that you are not relying on paraphrasing too much as well.
Please take a look at attached proposal and pick one key issue to focus on and make a well thought analysis and incoperate all feedback that was given by professor and follow guidlines for the assignment. PLEASE PROVIDE KEY ANALYSIS AND NOT RELY HEAVYLY ON PARAPHRASING. PLEASE UTILIZE GREAT CITATIONS.
