Step 1 – Identifying the Issue

The policy paper will address US foreign policy toward one country. Only the topics listed below may be selected. Pick one and begin your research immediately:

• US foreign policy regarding Hong Kong’s political status
• US foreign policy regarding political development in Afghanistan
• US foreign policy regarding China’s human rights record
• US foreign policy regarding political development in Venezuela
• US foreign policy regarding the International Criminal Court
• US foreign policy regarding NATO’s future
• US foreign policy regarding the perpetual War on Terror
• US foreign policy regarding Nigerian political instability
• US foreign policy regarding economic development in El Salvador
• US foreign policy regarding Cuba
• US foreign policy regarding military aid to Egypt
• US foreign policy regarding military aid to Ukraine
• US foreign policy regarding Turkish democratization

Step 2 – Gathering Sources

Conduct research to locate three academic journal articles (aka: peer-reviewed or scholarly sources) that specifically address issues within the foreign policy relationship you selected and meet the following criteria:
• The articles must be no more than ten (10) years old.
• The article must have more than five (5) pages of actual content (without graphs, charts, footnotes, citations, etc.).
• Books will not count toward the scholarly source minimum requirements.
• Carefully choose sources that provide a variety of perspectives on your selected topic.
• In addition to the minimum research requirements, you should use high quality sources for essential current events information relevant to your topic. These may include academic sources that are not peer-reviewed (position papers), newspaper articles, magazine articles, and other quality or reputable sources.
• The course textbook, encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), and almanacs, are reference materials and are not to be listed as sources on the collegiate level.

Step 3 – The Proposal

Submit a one to two page proposal to the appropriate dropbox by the date specified in the course calendar. The proposal must:
• Identify the topic in one or two paragraphs:

• Summarize the foreign policy topic you will be addressing
• Describe the current status of the policy or topic
• Describe why this policy is important to the United States

Cite each of your academic journal articles at least once in the paragraph using correct MLA in-text citations.

• Include the Works Cited or Reference section with the three (at a minimum) peer-reviewed academic journal articles that will form the basis of your policy paper.
• These three references must be cited in the final policy paper.
• Additional sources can be added (and should if a good grade is desired), but they cannot be changed without permission after the proposal is approved.
• In-text citations and the Works Cited or Reference section must be formatted using MLA citation style. Other MLA formatting elements (e.g. header, page number format, etc.) are not used in this assignment.
• Do not use block quotations (or any quotation that exceeds three lines of text) or first person in the proposal or final policy paper!

References provided in the proposal cannot be changed at a later date without approval (see Step 4 below).

An example of a good policy proposal is provided in eCampus.

A fundamental expectation of college writing is that all key arguments, facts, assertions and claims are supported with research (i.e. parenthetical citations). When a source has been cited, you are expected to acknowledge the source in the body of your text and on a Works Cited page using formal MLA citation format. The paper must be completed using the formatting guidelines provided in the syllabus as “Guidelines for all Coursework.”

I do not allow students to recycle or use essays from other courses. You must receive consent from me in order to do so and you will need to provide a solid justification. Please do not simply submit an assignment that you’ve used in another course as it will not be accepted unless appro