The final essay will be a research essay where you apply IR theories to one specific topic of your choice. The essay should:
(i) select one core theory (from those after the midterm exam: neo-marxism, critical theory, post-colonialism, green theory, or eclecticism),
(ii) identify a research question related to that theory,
(iii) analyze it in comparison to at least another theory, to see which one explains the situation better, according to the empirical evidence that you examine (one case study, comparative case studies or quantitative analysis).
For example, if you are from Egypt and your group presented about neo-marxism, you can use post-colonialism as the core theory of your essay; look into the research question: “are former colonial powers shaping their former colonies’ defence policy?”; and test the post-colonial argument “yes they are” against a realist one “the past doesn’t matter, only power does, not old colonial ties”. In testing it you can choose, for instance, the case of Angola and check if Portugal is still determinant, examining hypothesis 1 (post-colonialism): “Angola’s defence policy is shaped by Portugal” against hypothesis 2 (realist): Angola’s defence policy is shaped by stronger actors, like the US and China”. In the end, you examine the evidence and conclude which hypothesis seems the most correct.
The essay must follow this structure:
1) Introduction: topic, research question, your argument
2) Theory and methods: a short review of the theories and the methods you will use to prove which theory explains better (i) case study, comparative case study, or quantitative ii) which data sources you will use; iii) how that data is used to empirically prove the theory’s validity.
3) Background: briefly include the information about the topic (e.g. if you talk about post-colonial relations between two countries, in this section you write in around one page the fundamental historical information about the colonial period and independence).
4, … maximum 6) Analytical sections: here you dive into the case study, comparative case study, or statistics.
x) Conclusion: summarize your findings and reflect a bit about its implications to the future evolution of your topic or to similar cases.
Size: Range between 2,500 words and 3,000 words, not including tables and bibliography.
Reference system: Harvard ( http://www.citethisforme.com/harvard-referencing).
Format: Times New Roman size 12; 1.5 paragraph space; include student name, number, and course name on the right hand corner of the first page.
Sources: at least three academic sources (academic sources = books or articles from academic journals) + whatever you find relevant (news, reports from the UN, databases, videos, blogs, etc.)
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is obviously prohibited and subject to IEU disciplinary rules. Essays are submitted through Turnitin (which already include an AI detector) and plagiarism is assessed according to its criteria (see https://www.turnitin.com/solutions/plagiarism-prevention).
