09 Jul M8A1: Final Exam

This final exam will test your ability to assess the strategic posture of the United States based on what you have learned in this course and any outside research you wish to bring in. Throughout this course we have studied how the American political system responded to external threats through innovation in grand strategy-here we consider the utility of learning from history in an analysis of past and present national security policy.

For your final exam, you will pick TWO of the FOUR questions below and address them in an essay submission of approximately 1,250 words in length (approximately 5 pages of double-spaced and 12 point font of text, not including the cover and reference pages):

1. A critical 21st century challenge will be maintaining and reinforcing the critical relationship between government, military and people specified by Clausewitzs holy trinity a function that has sustained increased pressures from Americas wars and extensive ongoing military commitments. In your analysis, what are the most critical problems (and the sources of these problems) regarding the relationship between the United States government, its armed forces and the people? What remedies do you prescribe to improve the nature of this critical relationship?
2. How would you describe the key features of the emerging global security environment of the 21st century? Which of these do you consider to be the most critical to American national security-and in what ways do they complicate policymaking? What, in your view, are the most important advantages and deficits the United States holds in this security environment?
3. Politics in the United States has been described as an invitation to struggle between the president and Congress, yet the evolution of power has placed the president in a clearly dominant position in national security affairs. What, in your analysis, have been the principle factors leading to executive dominance in national security? What are the most important Congressional roles in policymaking? Are there any instances or areas of policymaking where you would argue that Congressional activity has been detrimental to the provision of national security? Do you agree with those that claim Congress needs to reassert its Constitutional authority in the realm of national security? Why or why not?
4. In the United States, military leaders are not asked by political leaders when and where to go to war, and civilian control of the armed forces has always been a central feature of American democracy; some contemporary observers however argue that there is a developing crisis of civil-military relations. To the extent that this is true, what would you specify as the most obvious manifestations of this crisis? The causes and severity of these problems? How can American society best ensure that the armed forces remain subordinate to civilian authority while retaining the ability to respond to a wide range of security challenges?

You may use resources from your readings or module notes as well as any sources you gather from research to answer the questions. Be sure to cite any sources you use, check your spelling and grammar, and turn in your assignment by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.

Please visit the  website for more information on writing your paper.

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click Upload Submission.  Enter the submission title and then click on Select a file to upload. Browse your computer, and select your file. Click Open and verify the correct file name has appeared next to Submission File. Click on Continue.  Confirm submission is correct and then click on Accept Submission & Save.

Turnitin

This course has Turnitin fully integrated into the course dropbox. This means that you should only submit your assignments to the dropbox below. Please do not submit your assignment directly to Turnitin.com.    

Once submitted, your assignment will be evaluated by Turnitin automatically.  You will be able to view an Originality Report within minutes of your first submission that will show how much of your work has been identified as similar to other sources such as websites, textbooks, or other student papers.  Use your Originality Report as a learning tool to identify areas of your assignment that you may not have cited appropriately.  You may resubmit your assignment through this dropbox as many times as you need to check to see if you have made improvements, until the due date of the assignment. However, once you have made your first submission, you will need to wait 24 hours after each subsequent submission to receive a new Originality Report.  Plan accordingly as you draft your assignment.  Once the due date has passed, your assignment submission will be considered final.

Evaluation

This assignment will be graded using the SPS Default Undergraduate Writing Rubric located on the Course Rubrics page within the Start Here section of the course.  Please review the rubric prior to beginning your work so that you ensure your submission meets the criteria in place for this assignment.  This assignment is worth 24% of your final course grade.