Course Details

After successfully completing this course, you will be able:

1. To summarize the literature related to the History of Peacekeeping from 1988-2010.

2. To analyze the international system after the end of the Cold War and its impact on war, peace, and peacekeeping.

3. To synthesize the historic arguments concerning UN and other peacekeeping operations from 1988-2010.

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of Peacekeeping Operations in terms of international order, operational effectiveness, and humanitarianism.

5. To research and write a persuasive, original research paper on selected topics associated with the History of Peacekeeping, 1988-2010.

Forum Assignments: 40% of your grade

Respond to the Forum question of the week in at LEAST 350 words using the reading assignments, websites, and any outside research you feel is appropriate. Cite relevant examples from the week’s reading, and use the opportunity to critique the author’s work (you can comment on issues like author assumption, agenda, research, methodology, etc.) Respond to AT LEAST two other student postings in 100 words or more, plus any follow-up questions I ask. Discussion is a very important part of the class. It is a way to interact and learn from each other as well as demonstrate our understanding of course content. I expect all posts to be thoughtful (making good, reasoned, well-written points), thorough (accurate and complete in its response), and interesting (a response that is on point, and relevant to the question asked). When responding to other students it is not enough to simply state “I agree” or compose only two or three sentences. Respond to their post in a way that moves the discussion forward, and demonstrates your knowledge or unique perspective on the topic. INITIAL POST IS DUE ON THURSDAY, RESPONSES ARE DUE BY SUNDAY. ALL DEADLINES ARE DUE 11:59 EASTERN STANDARD TIME ON THE DAY DUE. (Should you have a sudden problem with our schedule, such as a surprise TDY, please contact me immediately and we will work it out.)

Research Paper Proposal: 10% of your grade

The topic of your research paper must be a major concept, event, or person pertinent to the History of Peacekeeping, 1988-2010. This Proposal, in addition to a title page containing the student’s name, course and section number, and date – and of course, a title for the project, will consist of the following information:

A brief description of the chosen paper topic, short (1 to 2 paragraph) thesis statement that the student intends to structure the paper around, a listing (in outline form) of the arguments and sub-arguments that are intended to support the thesis, a bibliography listing at least five sources the student intends to use for researching the paper. More sources are expected to complete the final paper—this is just for the proposal. Important note: A paper submitted without a previously approved and graded proposal will be given a grade of zero.

This assignment will be graded on the proposed topic for the research paper, the historical question posed, and a preliminary thesis statement, as well as composition. Your instructor will either approve your topic as submitted or will direct modifications as needed. This assignment will be due Week 3.

Literature Review: 15% of your grade

An important aspect of historical scholarship is a deep understanding of the literature. One way to gain facility with our secondary sources is by compiling literature reviews, sometimes called bibliographic essays.

This assignment is important for the construction of our final research paper. You will pick a topic on Peacekeeping Operations which interests you and prepare a review of the available literature. For our purposes, a literature review is an essay in which we include the author(s) and titles of sources which are important to our topic, discuss the thesis and main points of each work, and let the reader know how, if at all, the work impacted other scholarship. The essay should discuss six to eight monographs or scholarly articles. This is not a list, but a well composed narrative in which a paragraph—perhaps two—is devoted to each monograph or journal article. Transition between paragraphs is important, as is grammar and composition. The attached bibliography (Chicago Manual of Style format) should include all of the sources discussed in the essay as well as other material which you may have used. Each essay should be between six and nine pages long. This assignment will be due Week 5.

Final Research Paper: 35% of your grade

Expand upon your Research Paper Proposal, completing a 15-18 page research paper on one of the major concepts, events, or people associated with the history of peacekeeping, 1988-2010.

It should include a title page, footnotes (from multiple sources), and abibliography. The footnotes and bibliography must conform to the Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Term Papers for notes and references. Substantial research other than the required course readings is necessary. The bibliography and footnotes are not to be included in the page count. NOTE: Internet sources (web sites) should be rarely used, if ever. Exceptions are scholarly websites and documents available through the APUS Online Library (Wikipedia is not considered a valid academic source). Your paper should have the following minimum elements: a title page, strong introduction with thesis statement, body of the paper, footnotes, strong conclusion that relates back to the introduction, and a bibliography. It must be clearly written and show a good grasp of proper writing. Your research paper must reflect your own original thoughts, even though the issues may have been previously presented elsewhere. The research paper will be graded based on the quality of the student’s research and, writing. This assignment will be due Week 8.

After successfully completing this course, you will be able:

1. To summarize the literature related to the History of Peacekeeping from 1988-2010.

2. To analyze the international system after the end of the Cold War and its impact on war, peace, and peacekeeping.

3. To synthesize the historic arguments concerning UN and other peacekeeping operations from 1988-2010.

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of Peacekeeping Operations in terms of international order, operational effectiveness, and humanitarianism.

5. To research and write a persuasive, original research paper on selected topics associated with the History of Peacekeeping, 1988-2010.