historical discussion of that state’s policies in that issue area

Each  policy  position  should  be  approximately  a  single  page  in  length  (single‐spaced  for  a  total  of  two  pages  for  both  simulation  issues),  and  must  include  a  brief  historical  discussion  of  that  state’s  policies  in  that  issue  area,  followed  by  a  succinct  bullet  form  encapsulation  of  its  policies  (what  it  would  do  if  confronted  with  that  issue  again),  and  a  brief  bibliography  to  indicate  the  source  of  the  material.  The  bibliography  must  include  at  least  one  recent  Internet  source  and  at  least  one  relevant  library  source.  Students  are  not  to  fabricate  policies  and  must  provide  citations  for  all  the  state’s  listed  policies.  Internet  links  related  to  the  state’s  foreign  policy  are  welcome  in  the  bibliography.

 

The  policy  paper  is  worth  10%  of  the  total  grade  in  this  course.  Students  are  assigned  a  country  based  on  their  choices  and  the  grades  received  up  to  that  point  in  the  course  (participation  grades  determine  rank  and  mid‐term  grades  are  tie‐breakers).  The  website  will  post  an  updated  tallied  list  of  states  that  have  already  been  taken  on  a  weekly  basis.  Do  not  begin  writing  the  policy  paper  until  you  have  received  confirmation  that  your  chosen  state  is  not  taken  by  another  student.

 

Students  who  do  not  submit  a  policy  paper  may  not  select  a  state  for  the  simulations and  may  consequently  not  participate  in  the  simulations.  Late submissions will be penalized.

 

Policy Paper Topics

 

Each  student  must  submit  a  policy  paper  as per the deadline indicated in the Agenda of the course syllabus outlining  a  given  state’s  foreign  policy  positions on  both  issues  immediately  mentioned below:

 

Policy Paper #1:

 

What is the given state’s policy on multilateral international pollution control, specifically in the area of sea pollution and radioactive materials? What traditional strategies would the state adopt in the event of a crisis? What is the state’s domestic population’s likely reaction to a pollution disaster? How dependent is the state on nearby fishing stocks and other economic uses of the oceans more generally? How dependent is the state on nuclear generators for its supply of energy?

 

Policy Paper #2:

 

What is the given state’s policy on ensuring the continued supply of oil to the world? How far is it likely to go to ensure this access and what multilateral approaches would it undertake to supplement other approaches to such a blockage? Where does the state traditionally obtain its oil supplies, what short-term alternatives exist, and how self-sufficient is the state? Is the state likely to gain or lose in the event of a sudden shortage in the supply of oil, and is it a member of OPEC?