Government 133 American Defense and National Security

For this assignment, the student will prepare both a written and oral presentation on a national security
issue currently facing the United States. The problems will be assigned from a list of relevant topics
chosen by the instructor. Depending on the topic chosen, the paper may focus on a specific issue, event, or
crisis, such as the fighting in Ukraine or nuclear negotiations with Iran or on long term policy issues, such
as the rise of China, global warming or the issue of immigration. Each student will research a specific,
different topic. Students will be allowed to select their topic from a pre-approved list with the order of
selection randomly determined by the instructor. After choosing a topic student will be allowed a couple
of days to trade topics if they wish. After that point the assigned topic becomes permanent.
The written assignment (paper) should present a description of the national security issue confronting the
United States and recommend a course of action for the United States to take in response. Specifically, the
paper should explain the nature of the issue, the reason and degree to which it poses a threat to U.S.
interests, and then seek to offer a recommendation as to how and why the U.S. should react. The
explanation of the issue should be in terms of what factors such as domestic politics, strategic concerns,
economic interests, ideology, etc. you believe offers the most complete understanding of the nature of the
national security threat you are describing. The policy recommendation must address the threats and
concerns raised in the description of the national security issue. Your explanation of why the issue does
indeed pose a national security threat and your policy recommendation to deal with it are the central
arguments of the paper and should be reflected in your opening thesis.
It must have a clear, identifiable thesis statement stated at the start of the paper backed up by strong
supporting evidence. It must also have organizational clarity so that the thoughts presented flow in a clear,
orderly manner.
Papers should be at least 10-12 pages in length. Sources must be cited. Failure to provide citations will
result in a substantial penalty. The source of any quotation, fact or idea that you include in your paper
must be cited using the Chicago-Style Author-Date format. This link
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html) will take you to the Chicago-Style
Citation Quick Guide. The full guide is also available on the Library web site
(http://csus.libguides.com/chicagostyle). There must be no less than eight sources. For every Internet only
source cited there must be at least one non-internet source. An Internet only source is defined as a source
that cannot be obtained anywhere, but on-line. For example, citing an on-line New York Times article
would not count as an Internet only source since such an article could be obtained without accessing the
Internet. Texts for the course are acceptable sources. In addition a copy of any relevant section or page of
material cited must be turned in along with the paper. Failure to submit copies of cited material will lead
to a deduction from the paper’s grade. Papers are due on the day the student presents their oral

presentation and are worth 25% of the overall course grade. They must be turned in both to the instructor
as a hard copy and submitted electronically to TurnItIn through the class SacCT site. Copies of sources
should not be submitted to TurnItIn. Papers are not considered to have been turned in until a hard copy
has been received. Grades for late papers will be reduced by 4 points (out of 100) per nonholiday
weekday past that date. Late papers may not be returned. All students must retain a copy of the paper until
a grade has been received. Feel free to see me if you have any questions either about the assignment itself
or about a particular topic.