PS 142L: Civil War, Insurgency, and Terrorism

 

 

Research Tips for Final Paper

 

General suggestions for finding sources

 

Scholar.Google.com: http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search?q=council+on+foreign+relations&hl=en. I recommend using "Google Scholar" as your primary method for searching for sources. Google scholar works like the Google search engine, but searches only academic articles. Most importantly, it lists the most well-known articles on each topic at the top of the search. The most useful article for your research will probably not be at the top of the least, but can usually be found on the first two pages.

 

You should try at least 4 different searches before giving up. In some cases the name of the country or the name of the war will provide good results. For example, a search of "Angolan Civil War" produces reasonable good results. In other cases, you may need to try different words in conjunction with the country or group. For example, searches of "Colombia drug war", "Colombia FARC", and "Colombia War origins" will produce slightly different results.

 

Another way to refine your search is to enter in a specific publications into publication field. International Security, Foreign Affairs, and World Politics are the types of journals that will be useful for your essay. If you enter "International Security", "Foreign Affairs", or "World Politics", in the publications box (towards the bottom of the page), the search will only return results from those journals.

 

Google Scholar will work best for well-known conflicts or conflicts that have been ongoing for a number of years. It will work least well for finding information for potential conflicts or finding information about very recent events.

 

For background information on very recent conflicts you may want to try one of the websites below.

 

Especially for conflicts involving the United States"

http://www.rand.org/research_areas/international_affairs/

http://www.rand.org/research_areas/terrorism/

http://www.cfr.org/

http://www.brookings.edu/World.aspx

 

For conflicts around the world:

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/

http://www.hrw.org/

http://www.un.org/en/peace/

 

 

Topics:

 

Below are a list of topics that could make for a good research paper. Under each topic I've describe a policy question that a paper on that topic could address. In addition, I have listed some sources that could serve as a starting point for your research. These sources are far from sufficient, but will be helpful in introducing you to the topic.

 

Peace-building. Sri Lanka

 

The Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) used suicide terrorism extensively in their three decade long civil war. Recently, however, the Sri Lankan government effective destroy the Tamil Tigers.

 

Potential Policy Question: What can be done to solve governance problems after terrorism? Now that the Tigers appear to be defeated, how can a lasting peace be created?

 

Sources: Bloom, Mia. 2005. "Ethnic Conflict, State Terror, and Suicide Bombings in Sri Lanka," Chapter 3, pp. in Dying To Kill. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

 

Taliban/Al Qaeda:

 

Potential Policy Questions: What is the best response to fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban (if necessary) ? Is Stanley McChrystal plan for counterinsurgency in Afghanistan likely to be effective? Or, would an "off-shore" approaching to fighting Al Qeada and the Taliban be more effective? What else needs to be considered? How should the United States deal with the government of Pakistan.

 

Sources:

 

Op-Ed piece by Robert Paper in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/opinion/15pape.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1.

 

New York Times Magazine Article: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/01/world/middleeast/afghanistan-policy.html

 

Frontline Special on Afghanistan and Pakistan (can view show online). Note the differing views on how to hand the conflict offered by the analysts at the end of the show.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/view/

 

60 minutes has done two recent segments on Afghanistan:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5377315n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

 

Article in the New Republic about counterinsurgency strategy: http://www.tnr.com/article/world/course-correction

 

General Stanely McChrystal assessment of operations in Afghanistan: "Commander's Initial Assessment," Unclassified assessment of operations in Afghanistan. Available online at: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/Assessment_Redacted_092109.pdf?hpid=topnews

 

Sean M. Maloney, "A violent impediment: the evolution of insurgent operations in Kandahar province 2003-07," Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (June 2008), 201-220.

 

Iraq:

 

Potential Policy Questions: Is partition a viable long‐term solution for Iraq? Why or why not? Are there other institutional solutions, such as a different type of power-sharing constitution, that could be taken to improve the political situation in Iraq? What are the conditions under which U.S. forces should be withdrawn? How should the Kurdish situation in Iraq be dealt with?

 

Sources: (you should have not trouble finding sources on Iraq).

 

Daniel Byman, "An Autopsy of the Iraq Debacle: Policy Failure or Bridge Too Far?," Security Studies 17, no. 4 (2008): 599-633.

Packer. George. 2006. "The Lessons of Tal Afar." The New Yorker.

Fearon, James. 2007. "Iraq's Civil War." Foreign Affairs. (Slightly dated but still useful for considering U.S. military presence in Iraq).

 

Colombia:

 

Potential Policy Questions: How should the government of Columbia deal with the FARC? Does fighting an insurgency against an organization funded by the drug trade need to be different?