Introduction to International Politics
- In your introduction, provide a brief version of your response. What are your main arguments? Briefly explain your chain of reasoning. Also, provide a brief “roadmap” of the rest of the paper.
- If choosing one IR theory over another, briefly discuss why you found the others less helpful. You do not need to spend much space on this, but do briefly explain why other theories are not as applicable.
- Make sure your paper flows well and avoid “jolts” or jumping from one topic to the next. This is why “mapping” (see point 1) is helpful – it provides a guidance and general structure to your paper.
- Allow yourself plenty of time to do sufficient background reading and research. For instance, if you are not familiar with the Iraq War (2003-), make sure you understand the timeline of the conflict, the politics in the run-up to the war, and the political arguments used domestically to justify the decision to go to war.[unique_solution]
- In your research, start with the resources at the library, especially books and scholarly articles. You can also use journalistic material, such as newspaper and newsmagazine articles, though do be aware of political bias. If reading other sources, such as blog entries, position papers, NGO publications, or similar, be aware of the political position of the author which may imply a lack of neutrality.
- Run a spell check and proofread your essay for grammatical mistakes, typographical errors and poor syntax prior to submission. Avoid the passive voice and generic, weak sentences such as this one: “International politics has always been conflict-ridden and complicated”. Be more specific and to the point in your writing. Do not use slang, colloquialisms or contractions, such as “it’s” instead of “it is”.
- Reference all the sources you are using. Arrange your bibliography in alphabetical order by the last names of your authors.