Efforts of the AU and UN Peacekeeping Missions in the Darfur Region of Sudan

The writing assignment for the course is worth 30% of the final grade and is due on July 28. It will consist of a 12-15-page research paper dealing with any conflict management attempt in a conflict or war. To ensure that students handle the paper assignment properly, they are strongly encouraged to discuss their choice of topic with the instructor before beginning their work.
Please choose the topic in the example.

Instructions for the Paper Assignment
The writing assignment for the course is worth 30% of the final grade and is due on July 28.  It will consist of a 12-15-page research paper dealing with any conflict management attempt in a conflict or war.  To ensure that students handle the paper assignment properly, they are strongly encouraged to discuss their choice of topic with the instructor before beginning their work.
Example Topics1.    International conflict management efforts into the current civil war in Syria (2011-present)2.    The 2011 UN-sanctioned and NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Libya3.    The U.S. (and coalition) effort to re-build Iraq (2003-2011)4.    U.S., Iraq, (and coalition) effort to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria (2014-2019)5.    France’s 2013 military intervention into Mali6.    The ISAF effort to re-build Afghanistan (2001-2014)7.    The UN and French intervention into the 2011 civil conflict in Ivory Coast8.    Efforts of the AU and UN peacekeeping missions in the Darfur region of the Sudan (2004-2009)9.    The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo10. Multiple mediation attempts toward managing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict11. Efforts in the Middle East to resolve civil conflict in Lebanon12. ECOMOG and UN efforts in Liberia or Sierra Leone13. The 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo14. The 1999 international intervention in East Timor15. Norway's mediation efforts to manage civil conflict in Sri Lanka
The above are simply example topics.  Students are free to choose from among these or any others for which they have a particular interest.  In selecting and researching a topic, students are advised to begin with scholarly journals dealing with foreign affairs.
A quality paper will include:1) An introduction alerting the reader to the significance of the conflict and management attempt.  This section should be relatively brief (only two or three paragraphs).  Be sure to highlight a clear thesis statement within this introduction.  The thesis statement should refer to the success (or lack thereof) of the conflict management attempt.
2) A thorough background section outlining previous events and policies that have influenced the civil conflict. Note that students are asked to identify a civil conflict, rather than an international one.  Civil conflicts can occur in failed states without working governments and between a government and one or more local military groups. Conflict management can range from diplomatic attempts (i.e. mediation), to economic efforts, to peacekeeping, to full-scale military interventions. The actors that intervene can vary as well.   This can include single states (The U.S., Canada, France), international governmental organizations (UN), regional international governmental organizations (NATO, OAS, AU), and non-governmental organizations (The International Committee for the Red Cross).  Motivations of third parties can range from altruistic to self-interested.  Try not to get too bogged down in the motivations of the third party, and instead focus on the conflict management technique.
3) The student’s own assessment of the issue and various policy options for dealing with it. Students should defend their thesis statement in this section.  The student should define what is meant by "success" in a conflict management effort and determine whether or not the case at hand was successful.  Did the conflict management attempt not do enough?  Did it try to do too much? Did it implement a poor strategy?  Could results have been different if a better strategy was used? Students who are writing about an ongoing conflict should speculate about the future and whether or not conflict management will be successful in the long run.
4) A conclusion sections. Students should summarize the main arguments and conclusion of their paper here. They can also provide some speculation on how their topic might evolve in the future.  This section should only be approximately one page in length.
Valid sources are those that are subject to peer review and editing. For example, books and journal articles go through this process before they are published. Most Internet sources do not, so they are generally not considered good sources. Many scholarly journals, however, have their articles available online. Also, students who wish to go to UN.org and cite a Security Council resolution, for example, this is fine.
Papers should have page numbers and be double-spaced with standard margins.  Font size should be between 10-point and 12-point.   CITATIONS AND A WORKS CITED PAGE MUST BE INCLUDED! Papers will be graded on the basis of style (including grammar), organization, and understanding of the material.  Students are expected to thoroughly proofread and edit their work, as sloppy papers with a plethora of grammar and style errors will be severely penalized!
Papers are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. Late papers will be penalized 5% with an additional 5% every 24 hours thereafter.  Students unable to turn in their papers in class should submit it to the political science office and have it officially stamped by the department.
This course uses Turnitin.com.  Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service is described on the Turnitin.com web site.