SIS201 Final Study Questions, Winter 2009 The final will be weighted as follows: 30 points for each essay question and 40 points (8 each) for the 5 ID terms. You can bring a single sheet with notes (one side only) 3 of these will appear on the final. You will be asked to write on 2 of those 3: For each essay, make an original argument of your own. Refer to material from class lectures, books, and documents. Use historical examples as evidence where appropriate. 1) There are different schools of thought about two aspects of the <a href="/keyword/cold-war/" >cold war</a> : 1) whether it was predominantly a struggle about ideology or security, and 2) whether it was inevitable or could have been avoided. First, what was the <a href="/keyword/cold-war/" >cold war</a> ? Second, where do you stand on both of these debates, and why? Third, what implications does your answer have for the future of US relations with states such as China, as they seek to avoid future hot and <a href="/keyword/cold-war/" >cold war</a> s? 2) A persistent theme of this course is the division between rich, poor, and middleincome states. Do you think the gap is due more to structural factors or policy choices? What specific factors help explain poverty and low growth? Use concrete examples from readings and lectures. 3) Compare and contrast <a href="/keyword/woodrow-wilson/" >woodrow wilson</a> , Franklin Roosevelt, and George W. Bush's approaches to constructing world order. What were their underlying assumptions about the world, views on US power and security, and beliefs about the importance of institutions? Which approach was most and least successful? Define the criteria you use to assess success and failure, and explain how you arrive at your assessment. 4) At certain moments in the past, such as in the aftermath of major wars, world leaders have met to shape international orders to prevent the political and economic problems of previous eras from reoccurring. Let us consider 2009 one of those moments. Take on the role of an advisor to President Obama and write a memo outlining proposals for an international conference to design or alter institutions to secure peace and prosperity for the next generation. 5) Based on your knowledge of the 20th century, what are likely to be some of the political and economic consequences of the current global <a href="/keyword/financial-crisis/" >financial crisis</a> , assuming it continues and deepens? What lessons of the past would policy makers be wise to keep in mind in dealing with the crisis? 6) Based on your knowledge of the 20th century, do you think history progresses in a more linear or cyclical fashion? Use concrete examples of countries/regions and issue areas to support your argument. 7) For most of the modern era, states have been the primary actors shaping the international system. Yet, in more recent times, various non-state actors have played in increasingly important role. How do you think non-state actors and the (re-)emergence of movements based on identities and ideologies other than nationalism have influenced the functioning of the international system? What impact will they have on the system in this century? 8) Two major intellectual paradigms for understanding the world after the end of the <a href="/keyword/cold-war/" >cold war</a> were Fu...