Briefing Paper: Topic Proposal Assignment

Instructions

Overview

As you work in public policy or law, you may be in a position where you are to conduct research on an issue, write a detailed memorandum, and supply a briefing to your superior or a group of leaders about the issue, leading to a decision on the next steps. This term you will be asked to prepare a presentation and final policy briefing paper to convey information and skills you learned through your research. The final assignment for this course requires you to prepare a policy briefing paper but you will complete essential elements each week through the term starting this week with the Briefing Paper Topic Proposal. This week you are to select a topic from the list below, craft your thesis statement, and prepare a brief outline of what you expect to write based on the instructions.

Instructions

This assignment is the first step in preparing the Briefing Paper: Final Submission Assignment. For this assignment, you will choose a topic from those supplied and submit it complete with a thesis statement and brief outline indicating what topic/issue you are choosing to study over the duration of this course. 

You will continue to research your topic to the full extent of the course, so be sure to keep an ongoing list of resources (in addition to those used for this assignment) to add to your annotated bibliography.

You have a choice between the following topics/issues:

1. US policy toward China focusing on

a. Diplomatic relations, or

b. US/China Trade

2. US policy toward North Korea

3. US policy toward Iran, either focusing on

a. Diplomatic relations between the US and Iran, or

b. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

4. US trade with the United Kingdom (should the US enter into a formal trade agreement with the UK)

5. US policy toward peace in the middle east (Israel/Palestine)

Items to include are outlined as follows:

· Length of assignment: a minimum of 1-page but not exceed 2-pages

· Format of assignment: Current Turabian Format

· Number of citations: 1-3

· Acceptable sources: scholarly articles, empirical journals, and assigned course readings published within the last 20 years.