The essay, which should be around 3,200 words (absolute maximum 3,500) excluding footnotes and references.

Evaluate the appropriateness of three different levels of analysis for explaining a contemporary foreign policy scenario. Your analysis should contain a discussion of the levels of analysis debate in the study of foreign policy and a discussion of specific empirical theories of foreign policy and international relations. Evidence about your chosen foreign policy scenario should be gathered through independent research and drawn from a variety of reliable, high-quality sources. Discussion of the scenario should be well-informed and clear. You should come to a preliminary conclusion about which level of analysis, or what specific combination of factors at different levels, seems to provide the most plausible explanation for your chosen scenario.

e.g.

Tensions between Turkey and Greece over Aegean maritime claims

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia

Turkish intervention in the Syrian Civil War

The US withdrawal of troops from Northern Syria

Saudi Arabian intervention in the Yemen Civil War

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi

The 2020 US-Iran crisis

US negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan

The 2019 Kashmir crisis

China-India border crises in 2017 and 2020 (including Doklam and Ladakh)

US-China relations during the Trump administration

US-DPRK relations during the Trump administration

US-European tensions during the Trump administration

The foreign policy of the Philippines towards the US and China

China’s Belt and Road Initiative