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
